


A Heartbeat From Me to You

by Liza_Taylor



Series: Garreg Mach Academy [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, F/M, Slow Burn, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-01-03 19:02:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 41,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21184421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liza_Taylor/pseuds/Liza_Taylor
Summary: Ever since he was a child, Claude has had dreams of another time and place. A place of war and strife and a country divided in three. A fun little quirk that has helped him glide through life due to the similarities of the people found in the dreams to the real, modern world. It was smooth sailing for the most part,  at least, until a certain blue haired girl finally shows up at Garreg Mach Academy....Modern Fodlan, college AU where Claude has dreams of the events of the game(Golden Deer route). Slow burn ClaudeXf!Byleth.





	1. Chapter 1

Claude let out a long, deep sigh and tapped his pen on the desk, trying to focus on the article he had to read for the one of many of his business classes.

“Based on that sigh, let me guess you had another one of those dreams last night?” Sitting across from him was Hilda. She leaned forward with her elbows resting on the shared library desk. Unlike him who was actually trying to get work done, she had given up and started doodling flowers on the corners of her notebook.

“Yeah, they’ve been getting more frequent too.” Ever since he was a kid, he had been getting odd dreams of another world. A place with swords and magic. At first he dismissed it. He has had an active imagination and it was just a weird quirk. The doctors didn’t think anything of them, just a childhood fantasy. However, as he got older, he started noticing parallels from the dreams to the current world. Such as people like Hilda and Lorenz appearing in his dreams with similar personalities and similar histories. How in his dreams he went to a school at Garreg Mach Monastery and now he was enrolled in Garreg Mach academy for young entrepreneurs. An incredibly expensive school that ran from middle school all the way to college, it was _the_ school for anyone that wanted to make something out of their life. Or at least that’s what the brochure stated. There were too many parallels to be coincidence and he had a feeling there were more to those dreams than he originally thought.

However, getting older meant he got smarter about it. He stopped telling his parents that he was having the dreams. One of the few that knew was Hilda and he had mistakenly called her by name upon first meeting because he had met her in the dream world before meeting her in real life. Despite the fact she was a bit skeptical of the dreams, even she had to admit it was useful, especially since Claude had “met” all their professors in his dreams and knew all their quirks before the first day. Knowing how far to push someone was helpful in and of itself, especially since Claude tried to keep his cunning side under wraps for the most part.

“Well, what was it this time? Another one with that girl in it?”

Claude sighed. “Yeah.” There were a lot of dreams recently with Byleth in it. She was a new professor at the monastery that oversaw the Golden Deer house, the house that Claude was apparently the head of. At first Byleth had been cold and standoffish but as time went on she began to show more emotion, her smile being one of the cutest things Claude had ever seen.

Was it weird to develop a crush on someone he had never met in real life before?

“I wonder how much longer until she shows up here…” Everyone Claude had met in those dreams; he had found in the real world as well. Including those he did not care much for, such as Lorenz. Thankfully in this modern world, Lorenz had his own family company to focus on, so he wasn’t bothering Claude about being the “head of the alliance” like in that other world. Although Lorenz still hit on any girl he laid eyes on.

Hilda paused and her expression drew to a frown. “Hang on, what did she look like again?”

“Huh? Who?”

“The girl. Bay…. leaf?”

“Byleth. Uh, she had dark blue hair although now it’s green. It goes past her shoulders and kind of messy. A lithe stature but she has muscle. And very well endowed on top. What!?” He protested seeing Hilda’s expression. “You asked.”

She shivered. “I did and I regret it.”

“Well apparently the me from the other world liked her okay and noticed those things!?” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Why are you asking?”

Hilda gestured behind Claude, to the large window that overlooked the main courtyard of the academy. “Is that her?”

Claude whirled around in his seat and his eyes widen in surprise. There she was, Byleth, the woman he had seen in his dreams consistently for almost a year now. Blue hair pulled back in a low ponytail, practical clothing that was a far cry from what she wore in the dreams. A messenger bag hung on a shoulder. She paused in the middle of the courtyard and began digging in the bag for something.

“Where are you going Claude!?”

Claude paused before he got too far from the table. “Watch my stuff for me Hilda? I’ll be right back.”

Hilda sighed. “Yeah, okay. Go meet your future girlfriend.” She rested her elbows on her table and her head in her hands, her attention trained on Byleth.

Anything that happened, she had a front view seat of it. Thankfully Claude knew he could trust Hilda to not attempt to record or post anything online about it.

He hurried out of the library and stepped into the courtyard. Most students either had class or were studying or working on assignments and the weather was starting to dip to late autumn, the cold driving anyone who would want to sit outside indoors. Claude regretted not grabbing his coat on the mad dash out as he could already feel the goosebumps beginning to coat his arms.

His heart was beginning to pound uncomfortable as he approached. It was definitely her. Despite the difference in hairstyle and clothing, the demeanor was the exact same, the blue eyes had the same level of attentiveness as she looked at the map in her hand and then the buildings around her.

He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans, trying to appear nonchalant about it. He was just on a walk and saw her looking confused and decided to approach. That was it. Nothing fishy about it. “Hey there Teach, you lost?” He winced, the nickname had come out by reflex. The him from that other world called Byleth that.

She startled and looked at him in surprise. “What?”

He tapered down the disappointment as he saw no recognition in her eyes. He shouldn’t have expected it. He gestured to the map in her hand. “You look lost. Trying to get somewhere? The academy can be a confusing place and you have the look of a deer in headlights.”

“I’m looking for the dean’s office.”

“Oh, that’s easy.” He pointed. “Just follow this path and it will take you to the student center. The dean office is the building to the right.”

“Thanks.”

She carefully folded the map and shoved it back into her bag.

“I’m Claude by the way. Claude von Riegan.” He gave her his brilliant smile.

“Byleth Eisner.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you Byleth.” He held out a hand.

She looked at the hand suspiciously and then at him. He knew that expression. She was trying to figure him out. An expression the Byleth in the other world had often when he brought up one of his schemes and she was trying to figure out if he was being sincere or not. He kept his smile pleasant and tried to not shiver at the cold wind. It definitely dropped at least ten degrees in the past couple of minutes.

In the end she took the hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you too.” Her grip was strong and familiar. Claude had to fight the urge to hug her then and there. This Byleth would probably kick him in the nuts for that.

“If you can’t find it, I’ll be in the library for a few more hours.” He gestured to the building. “I can take you there directly.”

“Thanks for the offer.” Her lips curled into the edge of a smile. “I think you should head back inside. You’re starting to shiver.”

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“Anyway, thanks for the directions but I think I’ll be fine.”

Not wanting to make this any more awkward, he nodded and retreated to the library. As soon as he stepped back inside, he relished in the warmth.

“So, when’s the wedding?” asked Hilda.

Claude collapsed in his seat, grabbed his jacket and shoved it on. It felt like the cold had seeped into his bones in the brief time when he was outside. “She didn’t recognize me.”

“Well that’s a bummer. You gave her directions somewhere?”

“The dean’s office.”

“You think she’s a new student? Really weird though, I didn’t think they allowed people to transfer into the college division in the middle of the school year. She’s a professor in your other world right?”

Claude shrugged. “Yeah but it was a weird situation-her being a professor I mean. I’m not sure what is going on myself with this Byleth. I think asking her that might have been a little strange to be honest. I think she totally thought I was hitting on her.”

“Weren’t you though?”

“Not like _that_ Hilda.”

Hilda rolled her eyes. “You say that but she’s totally the love of your life. I can even see it from here and that’s without using my camera app to zoom in.”

“You did what now?”

“I needed to see what was going on okay?”

Claude sighed. “Well, this is a huge school so the chance of me seeing her again is slim at best.” He picked up his pen and tried to focus on the article he needed to write an essay about that was due tomorrow, but his thoughts kept going back to Byleth.


	2. Chapter 2

Claude settled in his usual seat in Professor Hanneman’s class. Normally he got to class with less than five minutes to spare and sometimes a minute or two late, but he had spent the carefully calculated time looking for any sign of Byleth on campus. Sadly, he had been so focused on finding her that he got to class with six minutes to spare. There were already a good number of students in the large lecture hall but he knew there were many like him that came in at the last second while others squeaked in five to ten minutes late.

He heard a sharp gasp behind him, and he turned to see Sylvain staring at his phone with wide eyes. “Fluffyteddybear48 updated their fic!?”

Next to him, Felix looked incredibly unamused. “I thought you weren’t in that fandom?”

Sylvain shook his head. “You don’t understand. This is Fluffyteddybear48! Their stuff is amazing. You can take notes for me right? Oh man, it’s so long.”

“Seriously? You don’t have to read it right away.”

Sylvain shook his head. “I have to. Their work is amazing and deserves it!”

Felix shook his head. “Suit yourself. Also do you really have to keep repeating that username?”

“Well duh.” Sylvain set up his notebook and textbook so it blocked the view of his phone sitting on the table. “Tell me when class is done or if the Professor is looking at me okay?”

Felix rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat.

Claude turned forward as Hilda took the seat next to him.

“You’re here early.” She grinned, obviously guessing the reason he was in class early for once. “Did you find her?”

“Of course not,” he grumbled. “And it wasn’t like I was looking for her.”

“Uh huh.” She pulled out her phone and used the camera app to check that every hair was in place and her makeup immaculate. Satisfied with her appearance she put her phone away and got out the cute notebook she had for this class. Like always, the pages were more doodles than actual notes. She glanced at the front of the room. “Would you look at that…”

Claude followed her line of sight and froze in his seat. Professor Hanneman walked into the classroom followed by Byleth. Hanneman said something to her and Byleth nodded. Instead of walking to the stands where the students sat, Byleth put her bag down on the podium and began unpacking it.

“Now what is going on here?” murmured Hilda.

Claude ran his fingers over the small braid hanging near the front of his face as he watched Byleth. She pushed a few strands of hair behind an ear as she focused on pulling out papers and laying them out in front of her. She had worn her hair down today and it made her look more like the woman he remembered from that other world.

“Oh jeez, you have it so bad,” sighed Hilda.

Hanneman cleared his throat. “Hello everyone, I think it is time we get started. I guess first we should start with introductions.” He gestured to Byleth. “This is Byleth, the TA for the class. She was supposed to start in the beginning of the year but there was a slight mishap but she is here now. She will have her own office hours and able to tutor anyone that needs help in my class.” He nodded and Byleth responded by bringing up the powerpoint for today’s lesson.

Claude could feel everyone in the classroom letting out a sigh of relief. Hanneman was a great professor but technology wasn’t his strong suit. Usually the first five minutes was him struggling with it until he figured it out or one of the students in the class went up to help him.

“But before we get into today’s lesson, a pop quiz.” Hanneman gestured to Byleth.

A few groans rang up from the lecture hall and a curse came from behind Claude.

“I’m nowhere near done,” muttered Sylvain.

“Take the dang quiz and then get back to it idiot,” grumbled Felix.

Claude was glad he always picked an end seat. It was easy to come and go without having to climb over people and he always picked one on the side closest to the door. However, he always went with middle row. In the front meant he would seem too eager to be in the class but in the far back meant he would be seen as possibly hiding something. The middle was just right.

He smiled as Byleth walked to his seat and silently counted the people in the row.

“We meet again. It looks like you got to the office in one piece.”

She nodded at him. “I did. Pass these down.” She handed him a stack of quizzes and moved onto the next row.

Hilda patted Claude on the back before taking the stack of quizzes from him.

Claude looked down at the quiz before him. All questions from the last lesson. The year of 1412 and all the major events in it. His pen went flying across the page as he answered each question quickly and precisely.

Despite being here for a business major, the “History of Fodlan” class was a required subject for all students of the academy. It was a whole set of classes, one per semester, that everyone had to take from their first year of high school all the way to graduation. It was extensive, too much so, in Claude’s opinion. Pretty much they seemed to cover only a few years in a span of a single semester of the class. Claude could not wait until the final semester where the students were allowed to study a time period of their choice. He knew he wanted to do his study on ancient Fodlan and dig around Hanneman’s brain if the dreams he was having of a war-torn Fodlan had any merit.

He reached the bottom of the quiz but did not put down his pen. He rested his head in his hand and pretended to be contemplating the answer to one of the questions. Despite always being one of the first ones done, he would wait until about half of the students turned in their quizzes before turning his in.

Now that he didn’t have to worry about the quiz, he watched Byleth out of the corner of his eye. Hanneman was talking to her softly and pointing things out in a textbook on the podium. Byleth nodded and responded back in the same hushed tone.

Claude really could not believe how similar her gestures and movements were to the Byleth in his dreams. Not like the Byleth when he first met her. The one he met in the forest after getting attacked by bandits was cold and distant, her emotions stunted. No, this Byleth was closer to the one that Claude had come to know over the year. The one with emotions, the one that had that beautiful smile…

He dropped his eyes to his quiz as Byleth seemed to sense his gaze on her. Crap, he could feel his face burning up.

A small sigh from his left told him Hilda had seen all of it too.

After another five minutes, students finally started getting up to turn in their quizzes. Sylvain was one of the first and he shoved the quiz in Byleth’s hand and practically ran back to his seat. Claude waited for the third wave before getting up himself.

“You could have given it to me earlier you know,” she commented after accepting the quiz. At his look of surprise she smiled. “I noticed you were done for a while but were just sitting there.”

For the love of Seiros. He nodded slowly, already feeling another blush coming on. “Well Teach, I can’t appear too smart right?” He winked at her before going back to his seat. Apparently Hilda had been busy and drew him a small doodle of Claude on his knees (it was hard to tell since it was a stick figure drawing) holding out a bouquet of flowers to Byleth. Both stick-figures had hearts for eyes.

“Very funny,” he murmured. 

Hilda chuckled.

***

“And that is why it is important to remember the importance of horses in turning the tide of the war.” Hanneman checked the clock on the wall. “Ah, right on time. Alright everyone, remember to go onto Blackboard and answer the question of the week and have a discussion. Your midterm papers are also due soon and Byleth is open for office hours to go over your draft if needed.”

Claude finished putting away his supplied and threw his backpack over a shoulder. He was about to step into the aisle when Sylvain walked past, his thumbs flying over the keyboard. “Gotta write the best review ever…it was so good…” he mumbled under his breath. Felix grabbed the back of Sylvain’s collar before he could barrel into another student.

“I’ll wait for you outside.” Hilda grinned before joining the crowd that was leaving the lecture hall.

Claude rubbed his braid for good luck, put on a smile and headed for the podium. Byleth was obviously setting things up for the next class while talking to a couple of students. He waited in the back until they left before stepping forward

“Hey there Teach, wondering if I could ask you something?”

“What is it?” asked Byleth.

Now next to her, he noticed she had a planner open and had a few students’ names listed at certain times. He shouldn’t have been surprised people were already using her for office hours. Professor Hanneman taught a lot of courses and he was always swamped during his office hours times. Byleth was probably a godsend to them.

“Well I was hoping that you could put me down for some tutoring.”

“Tutoring?” She raised an eyebrow and stared him dead in the eyes. Claude could feel the sweat trickling down his back. That was the same expression the Byleth of his dreams had when she knew he was lying.

She looked down at her calendar and then at him. “Odd because from what I remember looking at the grades, you have a hundred in this class.” She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

Well crap.

He rubbed the back of his neck and took a step back. “Don’t worry Teach, I’m not trying to hit on you or anything. I wanted tutoring, that’s all/”

“Uh huh.” The eyebrow raise again.

“There’s a little side project I’ve been slowly working on and I thought maybe…” He sighed. “Forget it, sorry. I’ll see you next week Teach.”

Hilda was waiting just outside the door and she took one look at Claude’s face and winced. “That did not go well did it?”

“Not at all…. oh crap.” Claude buried his face in his hands. “I kept calling her Teach.”

“Teach?”

“It’s the nickname I called the one from the dream world.”

“Yeah, that’s a bit weird. Did you call her that the first time too?” Hilda opened the door and they walked out of the building and onto one of the many walkways on the academy grounds. Besides the old stone buildings of an academy that has been here for over two hundred years, it was also known for the flowers and trees growing along the pathways and weird abstract statues that were considered “art”.

“I did. It just comes out, I can’t help it. Calling her by name is just…. weird. It’s so weird.”

Hilda sighed. “Well that’ll probably weird her out more. Seriously Claude, I thought you were supposed to be good at winning people over.”

“I am but…” Byleth was different. It also probably didn’t help that in his dreams, he was already madly in love with her. That in and of itself was making him careless. Ugh, why couldn’t she have appeared here months ago when she first started showing up in his dreams? He wouldn’t have this problem then.

“Well I think someone needs to have one of the student center’s greasy burger for lunch to take his mind off things.” Hilda looped her arm around Claude’s and began leading him in that direction.

***

Byleth collapsed on the couch, her face buried in her pillow. Her shoulder ached from carrying her messenger bag full of quizzes and tests she was going to need to grade by next class. It was only her first day and Hanneman was way too excited about having a TA helping him out.

“Hey kid, how was your first day?”

She lifted her head to regard her father in the kitchen. He was wearing the bright pink, “World’s Best Dad” apron she got for him on his birthday a couple years ago. It was a joke present but he had worn it proudly ever since when it was his turn to make dinner.

“Fine. Hanneman has surprising stamina for an old man. He did like five lectures back to back with only a small snack break in between.”

Jeralt set the steaks on the pan and the smell of sizzling meat filled the small apartment. He looked at Byleth with concern. “He did give you a break right?”

“I was sitting down for most of it, I’m fine Dad.” She sat up. “Not looking forward to having to grade papers but I guess I have to earn my pay.” She scratched the back of her head.

Jeralt grinned and pretended to rub a tear from his eye. “My daughter is finally growing up. She’ll know what her dad goes through every day to make sure she has food on the table.”

Byleth narrowed her eyes. “Dad, you’re crazy and you know it.” She didn’t know how Jeralt managed to do it, but he oversaw all the sports teams at the academy. A few he personally coached, like the soccer team, while others he had others take charge. Byleth had no idea where he got all the energy from. Plus he was a single dad, raising Byleth on his own as her mother had passed in childbirth.

“Calling your old man crazy, I can’t believe I raised you like that.”

“Dad…” She rolled her eyes. “I’m so sorry?”

“Don’t hurt yourself kid. Anyway, dinner will be ready soon.”

Noticing Jeralt had already set the table and knowing he would refuse her help if she offered, she decided to spend some time grading some of the quizzes. She pulled out a stack from the first class and her red pen and got to work. Thankfully they were only twenty questions, mostly multiple choice so it wasn’t taking her too long.

She paused when she saw the next one in her pile. Claude von Riegan. She frowned, remembering his attitude from that morning. What the heck was up with him? He was obviously trying to hit on her, which was stupid. She was the TA for crying out loud. Also what was with that nickname? “Teach”? Where in the world did that even come from? Although he had called her that during their first meeting as well, which was incredibly odd.

On that line of thought though, she remembered how his expression was both times. It was playful yes but there seemed to be something more in those green eyes of his. A slight sense of desperation or perhaps sadness? It was like he was looking for something when talking to her.

Or she was putting way too much stock in what a guy was saying that probably just wanted to get into her pants.

Although her intuition usually wasn’t wrong.

“Alright, two steak dinners ready to go!”

Byleth put down her red pen. It wasn’t a surprise, but Claude had gotten every question right. She hopped over the couch and joined Jeralt at the dinner table.


	3. Chapter 3

Claude took a deep breath to slow his heartbeat, his attention focused on the target across the field. His arms were beginning to ache from holding the bowstring back for so long, but he needed to make sure he was lined up correctly and the arrow would ring true.

He released the arrow and, just like he thought, he hit the target. Not dead center like he hoped but at least he was well within the target.

“Good,” said Shamir. “With a bit more practice, this should become second nature to you. Don’t hold the bowstring for so long, you’re tiring yourself out before even firing the arrow.”

Claude nodded and walked across the field to retrieve his arrows. Sadly, despite him being amazing at a bow and arrow in the other world, it did not translate here. Which was quite upsetting because he really wanted to backflip and fire an arrow at the same time. And Coach Shamir had chuckled when he asked her if that was possible.

He pulled the arrows out of the target and picked up the ones scattered on the floor. Shamir was instructing Ashe on his form. She looked up at Claude as he returned. “Can you go get Bernadetta?”

Claude nodded, dropped off the arrows and put down the bow and headed for the locker room. One of the funniest things he found about comparing the two worlds, was how many went into similar interests. Although from what he knew, Ashe and Bernadetta were in this club because it was family tradition. He had joined because of how good he was in the other world. And well, it was required for everyone to join a club when attending the academy. Some, like Hilda, joined a club on paper and never showed up.

Reaching the locker room, Claude spotted Bernadetta on the bench outside, her phone in hand. She had a soft smile as she looked at her phone. She was so engrossed in whatever she was looking at that Claude was able to walk up to her without her noticing he was there. On her screen, he saw it was a review from a fanfiction site. A very, very long detailed review by someone named “FTBbiggestfan.”

“Hey Bernie.”

He had to jump back before Bernadetta could clocked him in the face from her flailing. She also let out a small scream of surprise and if he wasn’t used to it, he might have even found it alarming.

“Oh Claude….Hi.” She clutched her phone to her chest.

“Coach wants you on the field. She knew you lost track of time again.”

“R-Right.” She shoved her phone in her pocket and picked up her bow. For some reason it was typical for her to change early and then sit outside reading something or other on her phone. Often she got so engrossed in whatever it was that she didn’t notice the time. Coach Shamir was always annoyed by it but Bernadetta was good at archery and helped the team get to finals last year, so the coach was willing to let Bernadetta’s quirks slide.

“Is Coach Shamir really mad?”

“No more than usual.” Although he liked teasing people, Bernadetta was way too skittish. At least it was more manageable than the other world. In that world Bernadetta would lock herself in her room when she wasn’t in class and most of the time Byleth had to convince her to come out. Here, Bernadetta did leave her room and was able to interact with people…. for the most part.

Reaching the practice field, Claude slowed to a stop. Students were practicing on their own, Coach Shamir off to the side talking to Jeralt. Claude was surprised when he learned Jeralt was the head of sports here at the academy. At first he didn’t care but once Byleth started popping up in his dreams, he wondered where Jeralt’s daughter was. Claude himself rarely had contact with him as Jeralt left the day to day running of the club to Shamir, but he stopped by every now and then to check on how the club was doing.

Byleth was standing next to her father, curiously watching the students practice their archery.

“Ah there you are.” Shamir gestured to the duo as they approached. “Bernadetta, you’re late.”

“Sorry! So sorry!” squeaked Bernadetta.

“Stop saying it’s fine and get to practice.”

“Of course, right away ma’am!”

Jeralt chuckled. “And that one that took us to nationals last year?”

“I know, it’s surprising,” commented Shamir.

Byleth had turned when Shamir had pointed them out and her eyes flickered in recognition when she saw Claude standing there. He stood there awkwardly, not sure if he should acknowledge her or not. His last interaction with her had been…not so stellar after all.

Jeralt chuckled and patted Byleth on the shoulder. “Byleth here has some skill at archery too. If she was a student here, she would be a vital member of the team.”

“Dad,” she murmured, a slight blush tinting her face.

“Oh?” Shamir seemed to just notice Claude standing there. “Give her your bow, I’m curious.”

“I couldn’t,” Byleth said quickly.

“Nonsense kid, go on! You need to show everyone that your old man does teach you stuff.”

Byleth looked at him with a trace of annoyance but she sighed and her shoulders slumped and she walked over to Claude. “Sorry about this.”

“No, it’s fine, here you go Te-Byleth.” The name felt foreign on his tongue but he was glad he was able to catch himself in time.

She raised an eyebrow but accepted the bow he held out to her. She plucked the bowstring, probably checking the tension and nodded. She walked up to position and regarded the various targets set up on the field.

“Here, an arrow would probably be helpful right now.” Claude held out the arrow accompanied with a smile. Not his usual playful smile when he was flirting but a gentle, soft one that the him from that other world reserved for Byleth alone.

“Thanks.” She regarded him for a moment, obviously trying to figure him out.

Claude shoved his hands in his pockets and tried to look as non-threatening as possible.

She turned away and regarded the targets. With a smile she nocked the arrow and without hesitation, fired the arrow. At first Claude thought she was going to aim for the closest one. No, she aimed for the farthest one and she hit it dead center.

“Holy…” Claude stared at the target in shock and then at her.

Byleth turned and held the bow out to Claude. “Thanks.” 

“Uh yeah,” he stammered, taking the bow from her.

“I told you Shamir,” laughed Jeralt. “My kid is something else.”

“She really is,” murmured Shamir. “If there was only a way we could get her on the team…”

Members of the club approached her, to congratulate her for the amazing shot and to ask possible tips.

“You’re just like a knight!” exclaimed Ashe.

“I wouldn’t say that,” she replied with a small chuckle.

Claude had to smile as he watched her interact with the club members. She just had a way of appearing interested in whatever anyone of was saying and respond in a way that wasn’t demeaning or discouraging. She even borrowed Ashe’s bow to show off her form and instructed them on how to hold their feet and how to hold the bow to reduce the risk of cutting themselves on the bowstring.

Shamir clapped her hands. “Alright, stop bothering her and get back to practice all of you or I’m going to make you do a hundred pushups!”

Everyone scattered in less than five seconds. Shamir did not make threats lightly.

“You okay kid?” asked Jeralt. “I need to talk with Shamir a little while longer.”

“I’m fine Dad.”

“If I come back and none of you are practicing…” Shamir eyed the club members. After she was sure she invoked enough fear into them, she and Jeralt walked away, probably to talk in the office.

“Shouldn’t you get back to practice?” asked Byleth.

Unlike the rest of the club members, Claude had stayed in place near Byleth.

“Well, Shamir won’t know. I’ll just pretend I’m done with practice and just taking a short break.” He shrugged.

Again with that look of trying to understand him. “I heard you are the second-best member of this club.”

“Oh? Where did you hear that?” He mentally winced at the hopeful edge to his voice.

“Shamir mentioned it.” She looked at Bernadetta currently firing arrows. Since she was in the “zone” her back was straight, none of her usual anxiety in her expression and her shots were true. “She said Bernadetta was the reason the club made it to the nationals but you are the second best member.”

“Yeah, I try,” he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. He so wished he spent more time focusing on learning the craft. Although how was he supposed to guess Byleth was good at using a bow in the real world!? He frowned noticing she was swaying slightly in place. “You okay?”

“Huh? Yes, I’m fine.” She gestured to the bench where Shamir usually sat to watch the club members practice. “I’m going to sit for a bit and wait for my dad to come back.”

He somehow managed to resist asking if he could sit next to her. “Well I should practice for a bit.”

She nodded and headed for the bench. After she sat down, she took out a few papers from her satchel and a red pen. Obviously grading something or other.

Realizing he was probably staring, he whirled around and focused on the targets. A smile quirked the edge of his mouth. Well, maybe he could show off to her a bit.

***

Why in the world did she agree to go with Jeralt to his monthly visit to all the sports clubs? Sure it was something he did over a week but Garreg Mach had _a lot_ of sports teams. It was nice for her to see students from the classes she was TAing having fun in their clubs. She was surprised to see Dimitri was a soccer player although perhaps that was not surprising at all.

And then there was Claude. She looked up from her grading and regarded his back. She still didn’t really have a good read on him. She watched his arms flex as he fired an arrow, hitting one of the targets. She could see how he was the second-best archer the club had. His form was perfect although he hesitated before firing every arrow a moment too long. The closer ones he was able to hit in the center but he seemed to have trouble hitting the middle mark for the farther away targets.

He finished his quiver and sighed. Since the other students were still practicing, it was not safe to go out into the field and retrieve the arrows. He turned and startled as his eyes met Byleth.

“So?” he asked, walking over to her. “How was my form?”

“You hesitate too long. You should plan on where you are going to fire before you pull the bowstring.”

He let out a long sigh. “You’re always such a tough critic. Duly noted.”

“Always?”

He froze, then shrugged and gave her a playful smile. “So, when did you learn to fire a bow like that?”

At her raised eyebrow, he held out a hand in a gesture of surrender. “I have no ulterior motive, just curious from one archer to another. Where did you learn to shoot like that?”

She chuckled and put a few strands of hair behind an ear. “My father was very particular about me learning a thing or two about sports.” She gave him a rueful smile. Sure she might enjoy doing it but it wasn’t something she could do for long periods of time and definitely not on a team.

“Well uh, that’s cool.” He cleared his throat and looked at the ground. “I just wanted to say I’m really sorry about what happened in the classroom. I didn’t mean to make it sound…. you know.”

Well that was a surprise. She was expecting him to try to hit on her again. Or maybe he was aiming to do that after apologizing to her.

“But I do have a personal project I want to do and it’s a bit difficult to get some of the research I need without a professor’s help and well, I bet you’ve already seen how busy Professor Hanneman is.”

She had to laugh at that. The amount of papers she had to grade from only two days’ worth of classes was astounding.

“Well, alright then, if you want my help I can see what I can do.” She dug around her bag and took out her planner. “Let me see if I have any time open where you can come and see me…”

“You’re willing to meet with me?”

“Of course, you are a student of a class I’m TAing after all. I’m helping you reach your full potential.” And based on what Professor Hanneman said about Claude, he was the type to just do the bare minimum to get the best grade possible. For him to have a project of his own that he wanted to research, well she had to encourage that right?

Or was he just using this as an excuse to talk to her more? Ugh, that was a possibility but what if it wasn’t? Maybe he was just a socially awkward kid with people he didn’t know?

“So next week, I have Tuesday at three open. Does that work?”

He nodded. “Yeah that’s fine.”

“Great. I’ll put you down for then. I’m in Professor Hanneman’s office. Do you know where it is?”

He nodded. “Sounds good.”

She noticed Jeralt and Shamir walking back and Byleth quickly began packing up her bag.

“I’ll see you then…Byleth.”

Byleth paused and watched Claude curiously as he joined the other members of the club as Shamir began barking orders. The first being to retrieve all the arrows from the targets. She watched him pick up arrows with his fellow students as she mulled over the weird way he called her by name. It sounded unnatural on his tongue, like he had to make a conscious effort to call her that. And weird enough it was odd for her ears too. Him calling her “Teach” felt right, even if it was weird and out of place. Odd.

“Hey kid, you feeling okay? Need me to carry your bag for you?”

“I’m fine Dad.” Byleth stood and slung her bag over her shoulder and hopped on the balls of her feet to show she was alright. “Just needed to sit down for a bit but I’m fine now.”

“Well I have another three clubs to visit today, you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“You worry too much, I’m fine Dad!” Byleth ran ahead a bit and turned to look at him. “See? I can run with no problem and I fired that bow without issue.”

Jeralt shook his head, walked closer and patted the top of her head. “Well, you better not push yourself okay? I really think you should have waited until next semester before starting.”

“Come on Dad, I can’t have you baby me forever. I think I know myself by now.”

“You do but you also push yourself farther than you need to. We don’t need a repeat of two months ago.”

Byleth grimaced and walked at a normal pace. “Got it,” she murmured. Especially since she finally started working, having to quit in under a month would be devasting.

“Glad you are finally seeing it my way kid.”

They skirted around a gaggle of students heading in the direction of class. Byleth did a double take, recognizing Sylvain in the center of a group of girls. Maybe he was texting girls while in class? She noticed he had spent the whole time during Hanneman’s lecture on his phone.

“So kid, who was that boy you were talking to?”

Byleth turned back to her dad. “The boy? Oh Claude? He is a student in one of the classes I’m TAing.”

“Is he now…”

Byleth frowned. “Is something wrong Dad?”

“No, nothing is wrong per say. Just be careful around him alright?”

“Careful? How come?” He seemed to be a model student based on his grades but did he have a record or something?

“I don’t like the way he looks at you.”

“Huh?” Byleth stared at him blankly. “What do you mean Dad?”

“He looks at you weird.”

“Weird? Elaborate Dad.” Sure, Claude acted odd but there was nothing alarming about it. And she didn’t get a sense from him that he was dangerous or anything and her intuition was pretty good about that.

Jeralt scratched the edge of his beard. “No, I think it’s better if I don’t. Don’t want to put more ideas in your head than I should.”

“Uh, okay then?”

“Trust me kid, if it is what I’m thinking it is…” Jeralt shivered and murmured. “It better not be.”

“Dad, really? You’re not making me feel any better about this.”

“Just follow my instructions kid. Be on your guard around him.”

Sadly Byleth couldn’t grill her father for more information as they arrived at the gym. The wrestling team was hard at practice and Byleth recognized two students, Caspar and Raphael currently locked in a heated battle. It was hard to tell who was winning but Byleth was impressed how Caspar was able to hold his own against Raphael, who was much bigger than him.

Now that she thought about it, it was funny that despite the large amount of students she was now in charge of, there were a couple of students she was easily and quickly able to learn the names of and connect it to the face even from just a first meeting.

“You want to wait outside for a bit? There’s a bench on the left side. I don’t think sitting on the floor will be very comfortable.”

She nodded, Jeralt’s expression one that made it clear that Byleth was to listen and not argue. She couldn’t really fault him though, he was just being a concerned parent after all. The bench was cold and it seeped into her legs, through her pants. Thankfully it wasn’t too cold today, autumn was obviously here but the weather hadn’t dipped like it did last week.

She had to smile as she remembered how Claude was obviously trying to hold back shivers in their first meeting. He had been trying to look so tough despite the cold obviously bothering him.

Where in the world were her thoughts going? Claude was just one of her many students, that was all. She shook her head and pulled out a few quizzes so she could grade while she waited.


	4. Chapter 4

Claude banged on the door a few more times. “Hilda, I know you’re in there!”

“I’m coming Claude! Give a girl a minute!” He heard something shuffle and Hilda opened the door. She was obviously in the middle of painting her nails, her toes squished between foam separators, the smell of nail polish strong in the air.

“Dorothea not here?” Claude glanced into the dorm room but didn’t seen any trace of Hilda’s roommate.

“Naw, she’s on a date and based on the vibe she got from him, she won’t be back until late tonight if at all.” Hilda wobbled back to her bed and sat down. Her nail kit supplies were all over her bedside table and she began fitting small rhinestones with a pair of small tweezers to her wet fingernails.

Claude kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the other end of Hilda’s bed. Dorothea didn’t mind Claude sitting on her bed when he was here, but she had left clothes on her bed, probably trying to figure out an outfit for her date and Claude was smart enough to know messing with a girl’s clothes were asking for trouble.

“So, what’s up Claude? You don’t usually come visit me unannounced.” She held out her hand, regarded the rhinestones and nodded. “Perfect.”

Claude rubbed the back of his head. “So uh, I was at archery practice today and well, Byleth was there.”

Hilda looked up from setting rhinestones on the fingernails of her other hand. “What? Why?”

“Jeralt was there, he was talking with Coach Shamir. Jeralt is Byleth’s father by the way.”

“Oh yeah, I remember you mentioning that back when you first started seeing Byleth in your dreams. So, what happened with her? Please don’t tell me you were creepy again?”

“I…I don’t think so? I managed to call her by name. It was hard but I did do it and I did say I was sorry for how it seemed like I was hitting on her…but she said okay for me to meet with her during office hours for that project I want to do.”

“The ancient Fodlan history one right? You think there’s too many rhinestones on this hand? I want them to be asymmetrical but balanced.” Hilda held out her hands for Claude to look at.

He nodded. “I think it looks fine. Balanced enough. And yeah, that.” He frowned. “You think I’m being too forward?”

“I mean you’ve had only three conversations with her.” Hilda rolled her eyes and gently touched her toenails. Satisfied that they were dry, she grabbed the bottle of clear coat and began painting her toenails with it. “But you aren’t going to ask her to marry you in your meeting with her right?”

Claude looked at her unamused.

“Just had to make sure! You are going to be in a room alone with her.” Her eyes twinkled playfully. “What if you can’t control yourself?”

“She could probably break me like a twig. She is way better than me in archery and in the other world she was an accomplished mercenary and I can totally tell the one in this world has some of that skill, her hand shake was strong-oh stop looking at me like that Hilda!”

Hilda removed the toe separators and threw them back in her container of nail supplies. “I can’t help it! You just get this stupid look on your face when you’re talking about her.”

“A…stupid look?”

“Yeah, like you look so…happy?” Hilda pouted. “No, maybe that’s not the word to use. Joyful? No. In love? Probably. Yeah, you’re screwed Claude, you’re head over heels in love with her and you barely know her in this world.”

“I know!” Claude rubbed his braid. “It’s strange for me too,” he said softly. “But I really did care for her in that other world and it’s just…confusing to be honest.”

“I mean I guess I can’t complain because we became friends super quickly because of that,” Hilda sighed. “Just try to keep a handle on yourself right?”

“I’ll try. But for Tuesday….”

“Just discuss the project with her I guess.” Hilda shrugged. “What else can you do? When is it anyway?”

“At three.”

“I have class then, I can skip if you want?”

Claude shook his head. “It’s fine Hilda. I can manage. Just have your phone on you in case I need to send you an SOS?”

She saluted. “Roger!” She hopped off the bed and grabbed her switch off the dock. “You brought yours?”

Claude pulled his out of his backpack. “Yup. I thought you would ask me to carry you through the level.”

She grinned. “Of course. I need payment for offering you such excellent advice.”

***

“I’m sorry I’m late, I lost track of time…”

Byleth put on a gentle smile as Marianne took the seat across from her. “It’s alright Marianne. What was it you wanted to talk about?”

Marianne set her hands on her lap, her baggy clothes almost big enough that she was drowning in it. “Well, uh I just wanted to thank you for meeting me on such short notice.”

“It ended up working out. What is it you wanted to tell me?”

“Well, uh, it’s about me completing assignments. Professor Hanneman is aware but I wanted to tell you myself.”

Byleth kept her gentle smile, her notebook at the ready. She noted the bitten fingernails and the traces of dark circles under Marianne’s eyes.

“So uh, it’s hard to talk about but I have depression and sometimes it’s hard for me to come to class on time so…”

Byleth nodded. “Got it. Should I send you the assignments? I know Professor Hanneman puts up the power points but he does expand on them. Should I send you my notes version?”

Marianne’s eyes widen. “You don’t have to do that much. Just sending me the assignments is fine…” She looked down at her hands.

“It’s no problem at all Marianne.” Byleth wrote it down in her planner. “Which class are you in by the way?”

“The Tuesday and Thursday one, eleven am.”

“Got it.” With a moment hesitation Byleth asked. “I hope this is not overstepping my bounds, but I know Garreg Mach has a good counseling center.”

“Oh, yes it does.” Marianne smiled a little but it barely reached her eyes. “I have a good therapist there. She’s nice.”

“Well I’m glad to hear that then. And if you need anything that I can help with, I’m always here to lend an ear!”

Marianne nodded. “Thank you so much Byleth.” She clasped her hands together. “May the goddess watch over you.”

Byleth smiled and waved as Marianne walked out of the small office. She grabbed her pencil and crossed it off her list. So much easier than the meeting with Ferdinand before it. It was shocking how much one guy could say his own name in a half an hour. She checked the next name on the list. Claude huh.

He had been good in class on Monday. He was there on time and he just gave her a small wave goodbye when he left. Nothing weird and yet there was something about him, she still couldn’t put her finger on. Well, maybe she would get a better handle after today’s meeting. It was twenty minutes until three and depending on how long her meeting with Claude would go, she had to rush to help Professor Hanneman with his five pm class. Why did she end up having to TA for the professor that seemed to do the most amount of work?

But perhaps it was good that it happened this way. It meant she was doing something productive with her time. And as someone that spent a good amount of time bedridden, well maybe this was a blessing in disguise. Even if Jeralt complained loudly every day about the amount of papers Byleth was forced to grade. She decided to not tell him that the students would be turning in their midterms soon. A twenty-page paper detailing a specific topic, the topic depending on the class. Professor Hanneman had already warned her that he wanted those papers graded in three weeks tops and she was already dreading all the work ahead of her.

She could do it though! She had to prove to everyone, including her dad that she could do something like this. She rested her hand over her heart. “I know you’ll manage it just fine, okay?”

For now though, she had twenty minutes of free time and sent a prayer to the goddess (even if she didn’t believe in her) that no other students came in while she was working.

***

Claude stood outside Professor Hannemans’ office and tried to slow his racing heart. He hated how much he was freaking out right now. Or it probably was related to the fact for the past couple of nights he had been having dreams of the other world. In the dreams he, and the rest of the church army were preparing to stop Edelgard’s advance on the monastery. Which he had to admit was incredibly jarring considering in this world, Edelgard was the student council president for the academy and she had been for the past few years. Claude had thought about running for it since he did have some leadership skills he picked up from the other world but why do more effort than he needed to? Plus, this world was modern enough that he didn’t need to fight against racism and prejudice like the version of him from the other world.

Feeling his phone vibrate, he fished it out of the pocket of his jeans. A text from Hilda saying “good luck”.

“Yeah, good luck to me.” Seeing his phone saying it was time, Claude adjusted his shirt and checked his appearance in the selfie camera on his phone. His hair was all in the right place and there was nothing stuck to his teeth. He popped a stick of gum in his mouth. Ugh, he realized he was doing so much for what was simply a meeting between a TA and a student. If only there was a looming war to bring them together.

Naw, that was probably not ideal. The amount of stress on the him from the other world was astounding and Claude was surprised how well he managed to keep himself together.

Knowing it was time and not wanting to be late by a second, Claude knocked on the ajar door before pushing it open.

“Hello Claude, right on time.” Byleth had her own desk in the corner of Professor Hanneman’s cramped office. Filing cabinets and bookshelves filled the space not occupied Professor Hanneman’s large oak desk. It was impressive that they had even fit a small desk in here for Byleth.

He took the seat across from her and noted the pile of papers she was grading. Why did it seem like she was grading whenever she had the time?

She pulled a notebook from the pile on the desk and turned to a blank page. “So, this project of yours?”

“Oh, uh, it’s about ancient Fodlan.”

“Ancient Fodlan?” She frowned and glanced upwards and Claude knew she was deep in thought. “If I remember correctly, Garreg Mach covered that subject…a few years ago? In the high school division if I remember correctly.”

Claude nodded. “That’s right.” He had to admit it was his favorite history class because of all the connections he was able to make from the knowledge they had of ancient Fodlan to the world in his dreams. “I wanted to go…more in depth.”

She wrote something down in her notebook. “What do you mean?”

“Like more about how the people lived back then, that sort of stuff. I mean, apparently they used magic and like there was a goddess and weapons of power back then.” He shrugged, trying to seem not as invested in it as he was. “I’m just curious about all that stuff.”

“If I remember correctly, for your final year of history, you do have to research a time period. Why aren’t you waiting until then for this?”

Claude wished he could give his real answer. It was because she was here before him that his interest peeked again. He wondered about her, the change in her hair color, how it connected to Rhea(who in the modern world was the president of Garreg Mach). And by doing this research, he had an excuse of being close to her.

“Well,” he began. “I just have an interest in it now. Who knows if I’ll care about it in a few years you know? And if I do, I’ve started my research ahead of time.”

“True. I guess that makes sense.” She began suggesting him some online resources and Claude quickly shot down all her ideas. He had tried them and exhausted them of all the information they had, and he had combed the library for any information he could get his hands on.

Byleth leaned back in her seat and tapped her pen against her lips. A quirk Claude did not recognize from the other world.

“Well, it looks like you’ve used all the information you could get your hands on. I understand now why you wanted to consult me.” Her attention flickered to the books on Professor Hanneman’s shelves. “I can ask the Professor directly if he has any resources to give you.”

“That would be great…. Byleth.” He inwardly winced. The name just did not flow off his tongue like it should. It really felt wrong calling her that.

She looked at him funny and he knew it sounded as awkward for her as it did for him.

“So, uh, anyway, thanks a bunch.” Claude stood.

“Of course, that’s what I’m here for. I’ll try to see what I can get you by the end of the week.”

“I’m in no rush though, you can take your time getting that stuff to me.”

“Nonsense, it makes no sense to make you wait for a long period of time.” She pointed the pen at him. “Your midterm is due in two weeks though and you better have it in on time alright?”

“Of course, I already started it.”

She looked at him in surprise. “Really?”

He nodded. If it was any other person, he would have shrugged it off. Of course, he hadn’t started it yet, he was Claude, procrastination-master and someone who was just super relaxed and didn’t care about his grades. Byleth though, she was different. Even if she wasn’t the professor he had at the officer’s academy.

“Got to make sure I give you a comprehensive paper that’s easy to read.”

She chuckled and pushed a few strands of hair behind an ear and looked up at him with a bright smile. “That would be most helpful.”

His fingers twitched as he had the sudden urge to kiss her. Instead he gave her a final, strained smile before turning and walking out of the office. He managed to keep it together until he got out of the building and onto one of the benches on the monastery grounds.

He collapsed on it, rested his head on the back of the bench and rested his palms on his eyes. This was ridiculously rough. How in the world was he going to survive the rest of the semester being in the same room as her?


	5. Chapter 5

Byleth startled awake, the remnants of the dream haunting her. She was drowning in a sea of papers to grade and Professor Hanneman stood on a ship throwing more at her.

She really hoped that wouldn’t be her in the upcoming weeks as she was finally starting to see the end of her current workload. And then she could prepare for the hell ahead.

A quick check of the kitchen told her Jeralt was already up and out. Not a surprise, her dad was an early riser and he always seemed to have something or other to do. She ate some toast with jam for breakfast and packed up her bag. It was only seven in the morning, but she knew the college was already starting to wake up and a few of the facilities would be open. Sure, she could work from home, but she always felt in the zone more on school grounds.

It was a foggy morning. A quick look at her weather app told her it would be like this all morning, but it should dissipate by the afternoon. That was good, she wasn’t much of a fan of foggy days. Since her father had a high position at the school and did a lot of work on campus, the apartment complex they lived at was across the street from Garreg Mach. It was owned by the academy and from what Byleth understood, they didn’t have to pay rent because Jeralt worked there full time. It was funny that despite living next to the academy for almost her whole life, she never really explored the place, having been homeschooled for most of her life due to her condition.

She crossed the covered bridge that spanned over the busy street, glad that she didn’t need to cross at street level on this foggy morning. Despite there being traffic lights on the road, most people drove over the speed limit and she doubted they would bother to slow down due to the low visibility.

Now the biggest question was, where should she get to work? Professor Hanneman probably wouldn’t be in for a few hours so his office was probably locked. She wasn’t sure if the library was on its mid-term schedule yet, which meant it would be open for twenty-four hours. Well, she might as well check. If not, there were open tables in the student center and she could take over one for a few hours.

***

Claude jerked awake, his heart pounding against his ribcage. “No, no, no no…” He buried his face in his hands, the remnants of the dream scorched against the back of his eyelids. It was one of the other world, the battle against Edelgard. A chaotic battle to try to stop her from taking over the monastery. What happened at the end of the battle scared him. A huge dragon had appeared on the scene, destroying things in its wake. Surprising but what threw Claude off was the fact that Byleth had gone missing after that dragon had rampaged.

He had looked everywhere for her but found no trace of his professor anywhere. The rage and sorrow had threatened to overtake him but he held onto his calm demeanor like a lifeline so the other members of Golden Deer wouldn’t know. He was their leader, the one they turned to, so he had to be the one to remain calm. Even if he was anything but.

What had happened to Byleth? There was no way she would abandon them. Did Edelgard capture her? Did the dragon do something to her? There were so many mixed emotions running through him, the biggest thought that rose above the others:

Did Byleth die in that battle?

“That world isn’t related to this one…” he whispered, more to remind himself. Jeralt was still alive despite being killed by Kronya in the other world.

He rolled over in bed and tried to fall back asleep but with no avail. A part of him worried he would have another dream of that place. At the moment he didn’t want to know what was next. What if he found Byleth’s body?

Hating this line of thought, he got up and checked his phone. Almost seven thirty. There were still a couple of hours to go before his first class of the day. Usually if he woke up early he would try to get some work done or play on his switch but the dream had him too spooked and he knew he had to move, to do something physical.

Maybe a walk would help? The student center wasn’t open yet but the academy had a twenty-four hour convenience store. If the walk there for some crappy coffee and back didn’t shake off his mood, perhaps he could go to the archery range and practice for a bit?

He changed into jeans and a shirt and threw a coat over it before leaving his room. One of the perks of being the heir to a huge company was that his family had enough money to get Claude a single. He knew Hilda’s family was rich enough to splurge for one as well, but she wanted to share with Dorothea, which Claude suspected was partly so Hilda did not have to maintain the room all by herself.

It was a foggy morning but he knew the path well enough to the convenience store so he broke into a light jog. There were a few students out and about, some who had morning practices and others who were just early risers. It was a far cry from how busy the academy got in the middle of the day.

He really wished he brought his headphones so he could listen to music while he ran. It was eerily quiet, the fog around the tall stone buildings make it seem more like a horror movie than a college campus.

He turned the corner and startled as he saw a familiar shape walking through the fog. Byleth. She was dressed casual, like always, her messenger bag slung over her shoulder.

What was she doing on campus so early? She was walking in the same direction he was going so she had not noticed him. Probably would be for the best for him to turn around and go to the convince store a different way. Yesterday he had almost been an idiot. He didn’t want to overstep his bounds more.

However, the further she walked ahead of him, the more she was being eaten up by the fog. Fear etched the back of his mind as he remembered the dream. Byleth had disappeared when he turned his back on her.

He gritted his teeth and increased his pace. “Hey Teach!”

Byleth startled and turned. “Oh Claude, fancy seeing you here this morning.” She smiled at him. “I didn’t take you for an early riser.”

He stopped in front of her and rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh yeah, just going for a little jog. Coach Shamir thinks we should strengthen other areas besides our arms and shoulders.”

She smiled. “Glad to see you are hard at work. Oh and I asked the Professor yesterday about the stuff you wanted. I think I can get you some soon.”

“You really didn’t have to get it to me that quickly.”

She waved his concern away. “Nonsense, you’re a student and I have to promote your learning. Anyway, I’ll leave you to it.” She gestured to her bag. “Trying to get ahead of all the grading.”

“Right.” He could feel his heart pound uncomfortably as she turned away. He thought of the Byleth from the other world. She had promised to meet up with him again in five years at the Goddess Tower. And the chance of that promise being unfulfilled was high.

Maybe it was the dense fog but as she turned away all he could think of was the fact that he was not going to see her again. Without thinking, he reached out and grabbed her hand. “Teach, don’t go.”

***

Byleth stiffened as she felt Claude grab her hand. She was about to move, almost ready to use the self-defense training Jeralt had taught her at a young age. However, his voice had stopped her from going through it. It was pained and raw, filled with fear and longing. She had thought he looked off when he approached her. There were dark circles under his eyes and although he looked playful and relaxed like always, there was something in his expression that hinted at something else. Something haunted and worrying.

Was this “teach” someone important to him? Was he just transferring his relationship to this person onto Byleth?

Maybe that’s why he had been all friendly to her, she just reminded him of that person. Instead she gave him a gentle smile and used her other hand to pry his fingers off her hand. “Don’t worry Claude, I’m going to see you later today remember? In class?”

He startled, seeming to just realize what he was doing. He cursed and then winced. “Sorry Teach.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Yeah, that’s right, I’ll see you later today.”

“Claude…” She didn’t know how she was supposed to bring this up. It couldn’t be healthy though right, transferring his relationship to someone else onto her? Maybe it was the stress of school? Garreg Mach did have a pretty strict curriculum after all.

“I’m fine Teach.” He chuckled but it sounded fake and hollow to Byleth’s ears. “Just probably a bit tired. I really shouldn’t have done that. My fault, sorry.”

“Maybe you should talk about it with someone?” she offered gently.

He nodded. “Yeah, I should. I’ll do that. Again, I’m really sorry about that Tea-Byleth. Sorry, Byleth. I’ll see you later.” Before she could say anything more to him, he jogged away and disappeared into the fog.

She watched him go. It would be okay to not go after him right? Or perhaps she could get someone else to do so? She looked down at her hand. For a moment his touch had felt so familiar.

Ugh, what in the world was going on with her? She lightly slapped her cheeks. She was a TA with a lot of work that needed to get done and student midterms were loaming in her future. She didn’t have the time to be standing around like this. And besides she was going to see Claude later today.

He had mentioned he was tired, that was probably it. Although her instincts were telling her there was more going on here than what he was telling her.

***

Claude’s plan was to follow Byleth’s advice to talk to someone. Just not the someone she was probably thinking of.

He leaned against the large oak tree and checked his phone. No message yet. He looked at the high school building and then back at his phone. It was going to be tight. After this conversation he had to rush back to the college campus to make it in time for Professor Hanneman’s class. Why did the high school campus need to be so far apart from the college campus?

He heard a ring of the bell and students started streaming through the halls to get to their next class. Everyone was dressed in a similar uniform, a black blazer accented in gold and either black pants or a black skirt. Many added their own accessories to make the uniform their own and Claude remembered fondly adding a small golden cape to his, reminiscent of what he wore in the other world during his time as a student at the officers avademy.

Where was she? The longer he stood out here, the greater the chance a teacher noticing he was there. And they did not take kindly to college students hanging out at the high school.

He checked the entrance again and sighed in relief as he caught sight of the girl with light purple hair he was looking for. Lysithea. Cyril was a step behind her, the two obviously in conversation. She spotted Claude, said something to Cyril before hurrying over. Claude saw Cyril was frowning but he didn’t do or say something as she joined him under the tree.

“What’s going on Claude? I just checked my phone and saw your message.”

“You have lunch now right?”

She nodded. “For the next hour.”

“Good cause it’s not really something I can really say in the four minutes you have before your next class.”

She crossed her arms and looked at him annoyed. “Out with it Claude. A teacher could spot us at any minute and I doubt Cyril can distract them for long.”

Ah, so that’s why he was here. “Lysithea, I would send you a text if it wasn’t something I had to ask you in person but you have memories beyond the battle at Garreg Mach against Edelgard right?”

“I do.”

Like Claude, Lysithea also had dreams of the other world. Unlike him, she was way better at “controlling” the information she got from that world. Back when she was in the middle school and he in the high school, they had run into each other on campus grounds. She had pointed at him and yelled, “You’re the one that makes fun of me about ghosts!”

At first he had no idea what she was talking about but that night he had a dream of the other world and the exact conversation she had been referring to. Realizing she was like him, he sought her out and they’ve built an odd friendship around the fact that they remembered this other strange world. She also helped him control the dreams somewhat. Before he would have dreams of random time periods, him being a child, him being a teen, then an adult and then perhaps another teen dream. With her coaching, he was able to shift it so his dreams were chronological to his actual age, which made piecing events together much easier. While Lysithea continued to push for information, he was content to know stuff as it came to him.

Until now at least.

“Do you know what happened to Teach? I mean-”

“The Professor?” She nodded. “I do.”

Oh yeah, everyone but him referred to her as “the professor” in that world. “Was she…did we find her? Was she alright? She disappeared after that battle….”

“Well from what I know, she was asleep for five years and then met up with you at the goddess tower to complete the promise.”

Claude’s body relaxed and he rested his head against the back of the tree. “That’s…that’s good. I thought that she possibly…”

“We all thought the same for the five years, but she came back like nothing had happened and helped us.” Lysithea looked at him funny. “Why do you want to know? Unless…” Her eyes widen. “Wait Claude, is the Professor…”

“She’s the TA for one of my classes.”

Understanding dawned in Lysithea’s eyes. “I see. No wonder you wanted to ask me about this right away.” Despite the fact she was fifteen and probably didn’t know much about romance, her expression was gentle as she regarded him. “From what I know you two end up getting married after the war.”

“We get married!?” he squeaked, his face burning at the thought.

Lysithea nodded. “I think a few events happen before then but it’s been a while since I brushed up on those memories.”

“I know I should probably let you go soon so none of us get in trouble but if you can, I think I need more of those lessons. I want to know more about what happened five years later.”

Lysithea nodded. “I’ll text you some exercises you can try tonight. If those don’t work we can discuss more this weekend?”

“Sounds good. Thanks a lot Lysithea. And uh, sorry for making fun of you and your fear of ghosts in the other world.”

“It’s fine. At least you don’t treat me as much of a child as you do over there. And you have to tell me more details about the Professor later.”

He held up his pinky finger. “I promise.”

He stayed near the tree long enough to make sure Lysithea and Cyril got back into the building okay before he took off at a sprint back to the college campus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In terms of Lysithea's hair, since the game never did state what her actual hair color is, I went with the fan-canon of her veil post time-skip being the actual color of her hair.


	6. Chapter 6

“Are you actually panting?” Hilda stared at Claude dumbstruck as Claude collapsed in the seat next to her with less than a minute to class starting.

“Yeah, I ran from the high school.” Claude leaned his head back on his seat as he tried to get his breathing under the control.

“Asking Lysithea something I assume.” She pulled her water bottle out of her bag and handed it to him.

With a nod of thanks, Claude took a long drink from it, careful to not let his lips touch the edge of the container before handing it back to her. “Yeah, a lot…a lot happened last night…in the dreams.”

“Gotcha, we’ll talk later then.”

“So, I totally think Fluffyteddybear48 goes to our college.”

Claude cracked open an eye as he listened to Sylvain’s and Felix’s conversation behind him.

Felix let out a long sigh. “What makes you say that?”

“Well because they said they’re going to take a hiatus for a few weeks because they have midterms. And before you say, ‘well all colleges have midterms around this time’, they also mentioned having a big history midterm to do. And Garreg Mach’s big thing is the history midterm.”

“I guess but I think you’re really stretching it.”

“Would it be too forward to ask them?” asked Sylvain. “I mean we have been interacting for almost two years now…”

Before Claude could hear the answer, Professor Hanneman cleared his throat and signaled the beginning of class. As Claude sat up he saw Byleth was in charge of the power point and she gave him an encouraging smile as his eyes met hers.

He dropped his eyes to his notebook, his face burning as he remembered his behavior from that morning. Atrocious. Utterly atrocious. He _never_ responded to this world based on something that happened in the other. Despite the similarities in personalities and appearances, nothing else really stayed the same. Just because Byleth had disappeared in that world, that didn’t mean it was going to happen here. Plus, based on what Lysithea said, Byleth wasn’t even gone forever, she was back five years later. That just made it worse.

Feeling a sharp poke in his leg, he glanced at Hilda in annoyance. She pointed to her notebook where she had written a note obviously for him.

_ “Calm down! You’re getting so antsy that people are noticing.”_

Professor Hanneman continued to lecture on but Claude did notice a few students near him were shooting him concerned looks. He gave them a playful smile and tried to focus on the lecture about the purpose of agriculture in a society that was focused on producing steel.

By the end of the hour and a half lecture, Claude had less notes that Hilda and Hilda’s notebook was fifty percent doodles.

“Remember!” called out Professor Hanneman. “Your midterm papers are due next week.”

Claude sighed, stood up and shoved his notebook back in his backpack.

“Should I leave before you?”

He shook his head and followed Hilda down the steps and towards the door, being incredibly careful to not look in Byleth’s direction. 

Once outside, they headed for the student center to grab lunch before the afternoon classes. Claude in business and Hilda’s in fashion design. On the way to the student center, Claude gave Hilda an update of what happened that morning and then what Lysithea said.

Hilda rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Claude…you’re…”

“You don’t have to say it Hilda, I know. I’m an idiot.”

“I was trying to think of a nicer way to put it but yeah. No wonder you tried to not look at her on the way out.”

Feeling his phone vibrate, Claude took it out and saw it was a long text from Lysithea. “Hey, you aren’t busy after your afternoon class right? I need to go shopping.”

Hilda looked over Claude’s shoulder at the text. “Oh yup, can see why you need me. I’m driving though.”

***

”Kid, did you just get back?”

Byleth looked up from her laptop as Jeralt walked out of the bathroom. Water clung to his hair and he had a towel over a shoulder.

She nodded. “I just got back ten minutes ago. Just wanted to check my emails but I’ll start dinner after that.”

“Forget it, why don’t we order out today?” He opened the drawer in the TV stand and pulled out a pile of take-out menus.

“Dad, I can whip up something really fast.”

“Well we need to celebrate you surviving your first week as a TA. Do you think that’s more of a pizza or noodles thing?”

She laughed. “Surviving is one way to put it. I never expected Professor Hanneman to have so much _stuff_ to get done.”

“There’s a reason why Rhea always makes sure he has a TA, otherwise nothing ever gets back in a timely fashion.” He frowned and regarded Byleth. “You aren’t pushing yourself too hard right? Getting enough sleep?” He approached the coach and put a hand on Byleth’s forehead.

She swatted his hand away. “Dad, come on! I’m an adult now, I think I’m very aware of how I’m feeling.”

“Just making sure. You always push yourself.”

She puffed out her cheeks. “I’m doing fine Dad, really! And I’ll have you know, I finished everything I need to do grading wise so I get a small break before next week.”

“Small break?” He gestured to her notebook with a checklist of things to do. “It looks like you’re booked out for the next couple of days.”

“Oh yes, I have to do a couple of things to help out some of the students and a lot to meet during office hours. It isn’t too much though.”

Jeralt ruffled Byleth’s hair. “Just make sure you rest in between alright? Let your old man take care of things.”

“DAD!” Byleth glared at him as she adjusted her hair.

He chuckled and went back to looking at the takeout menus. “Before I forget, your grandmother wants to meet with you later this week for dinner. She thinks Friday would be good?”

“Oh great. I have been wanting to thank her for giving me this position.” Byleth looked at her schedule. “I wonder if I have enough time to grab her some flowers…”

“If not, I’ll get you some.”

“Dad, remember the last time you got flowers for Mom’s grave?”

“I thought those colors worked well together!”

Byleth shivered, thinking of the horrible color combination. “I’ll text Grandma and let her know. And maybe we could get noodles tonight?”

“Noodles it is. The usual?”

While Jeralt went to call in a delivery, Byleth got back to going through her emails. Ah, Professor Hanneman had finally gotten back to her on the texts of ancient Fodlan and okayed her copying some sections in his personal collection. She added it to her notebook and paused as she thought about the person she was getting all this for.

Claude.

He looked fine in class although a little antsy. She attributed it though to his behavior to her that morning. It seemed like it was still embarrassing for him as he completely ignored her when he walked out with Hilda by his side.

Would it be best for her to just pretend it didn’t happen? Probably right? Although the more she interacted with him, there was a stronger sense of there being something familiar about him. What was it though?

Shrugging, she sent him an email with the article attachments and explained she would pull the books for him and if he would like, he could look through them before she made a copy of the sections he wanted. Why waste paper and time if she didn’t have to?

“Noodles should be here in ten minutes.” Jeralt pointed at her. “I want you off that laptop now and setting the table. It’s no good to be working all the time.”

“Says the guy in charge of every single sports club in the academy.”

“Great, you start working and you’re already getting fresh with me. What’s next, you’re going to move out?”

Byleth laughed, put down her laptop, got up and hugged her dad. “Nonsense Dad, if I wasn’t here, this place would turn into a messy bachelor’s pad. And I think Mom would be very, very disappointed that you aren’t looking after yourself.”

He frowned at her. “I’m not that bad.”

“How long did it take you to learn how to do laundry again?”

***

Claude was glad he had a room all to himself because his roommate would probably think Claude was crazy right now. A couple sticks of incense burned on his dresser. His window was propped open and he had stuffed towels in the crack between the door and the ground so the RA wouldn’t think Claude was smoking something in here. Other than the incense, he also had a crystal on his bedside table along with a bowl that he was supposed to hit the side of with a weird looking spoon that was supposed to focus him.

All of this felt really dumb but Lysithea knew what she was talking about and he had to trust her. Otherwise he did not want to think about how much money he spent on all these things. It was way too expensive.

He shut the light and climbed into his bed and snuggled under the covers. He never kept the window open when fall rolled in as the cold wind made his room way too cold. The risk he had to take to not get in trouble.

“Think of the time period I want to remember,” he murmured. Five years after Byleth vanished, the day that he met her at the Goddess Tower to fulfill the promise. Even though Lysithea promised it was the case, he needed to know for sure that she was okay. He repeated the phrases over and over until he finally drifted off to sleep.

***

Claude awoke to a freezing cold room. His face burned and despite being alone, he rolled onto his side and covered his face with his hands. Why was his other world self so flipping cool!? He had gone to the Goddess Tower five years later to complete the promise and while staring at the rising sun Byleth had approached him. Despite the fact he wanted to run over and hug her, he managed to just smile and talk to her in a casual tone.

How flipping cool could one guy be!?

“How am I supposed to live up to that!?” No wonder Lysithea didn’t find Claude threatening in any way. Compared to the Claude over there, he wasn’t anywhere close to that cool level!

He sighed and looked up at the ceiling and rested his arm over his eyes. Well, it was good that he had confirmation that Byleth had survived in the other world. Now if only he could have gotten this confirmation without acting like an idiot in front of the Byleth of this world.

He wondered how the rest of the war was going to go now that he and Byleth were together again. Neither of them had confessed to the other but Lysithea had confirmed they had gotten married…

Ugh. Why did this just seem to make things worse? Checking the bedside clock told him it was only three in the morning. With a groan, he rolled out of bed, shuffled over to the window and closed it, the incense long burned out. Unfortunately, the heat had not been turned on in the dorm yet so he curled up back in his warm bed and tried to go back to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Claude released the arrow and sighed as it missed the center of the bull’s eye.

“Good shot. I can see you’re finally taking this seriously now.” Shamir gave Claude a rare smile. “Why the sudden change?”

“Just thought I would get more involved you know?” Claude gave her a nonchalant shrug and then a grin. “We have to get first place in nationals this year right? Have to do better than last year.”

Shamir raised an eyebrow but thankfully decided to not pry further in Claude’s business. “Ah, Bernadetta. Glad of you to join us in a timely fashion.”

“Sorry, I’m sorry. But I’m here.” She took the spot next to Claude.

While Shamir went to check on the other students, Claude went back to practicing. Man, how did the him in the other world do it so quickly? Sure he had a fancy new Relic bow but most of it was skill alone right?

“Hey Bernie?”

Bernadetta startled and almost dropped an arrow. “Yes?”

“How in the world did you manage to get so good at archery?”

“Oh, just practice, lots of practice. My family made sure I practiced since I was a child so…”

Darn, maybe he should have really gotten into archery when he was a kid. Although he had been more focused on digging in the dirt and exploring and talking about his “cool” dreams than practicing to use a bow.

“Hey Claude, can I ask you something?”

“You want to ask _me_ something?” He couldn’t help the look of disbelief.

Bernadetta let out a small squeal. “It’s nothing, nothing at all!”

“Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have put it like that, it was a bit harsh I will admit. Seriously, what’s up though?”

“Well uh, oh, this is going to sound so weird.” Bernadetta fired one of her arrows and Claude was impressed how straight and true it flew even though she seemed to be half paying attention to what it was doing.

“I’ve heard some weird things, trust me.”

“Well, uh so I wrote a thing and posted it online right? And this one reader of mine somehow managed to figure out from my context clues that I go here to Garreg Mach.”

Claude frowned. “Are you worried they’re stalking you or something?”

“Nothing like that!” She waved her free hand wildly. “No, they said they go to Garreg Mach too and was just wondering about it. I didn’t confirm either way yet though, since I was trying to figure out how to.”

“Would you want to meet them though?”

“Well uh, I’m not sure.” She ran her fingers along the bowstring. “I mean, they really like my work and always leave good compliments but I’m way different in person that online so… I thought maybe you could give some advice Claude? You seem like the type who’s the same off and online.”

“I guess.” Maybe it would be best to not mention how he liked to troll the trolls when he was feeling bored. “The advice I would give is if you’re comfortable doing so? Like meet in a public place and stuff if anything. But if you don’t, then just deny it? I mean, if you’re just talking in private messages, it would be easy to lie right?”

“True…” Bernadetta frowned and looked at the target in front of her. She gave him a small, rare smile. “Thanks Claude, I’ll think about it.”

“Happy to help.”

“And uh, if you want some advice, adjust your posture a little, it will help with pulling the bowstring faster.” She demonstrated what she meant.

Claude watched her closed and adjusted his own stance as best he could and fired the arrow. This time it hit closer to the bullseye. He couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks a lot Bernadetta! I hope everything goes well with this internet person.” Although now that he thought about it, he remembered Sylvain talking in class multiple times about talking to an author of some kind and he had been wondering if said author went to Garreg Mach.

Naw, it couldn’t be.

***

After practice, Claude stopped in his room to drop off his bow and change into something a bit more presentable. He regarded himself in the mirror behind the door, trying to make sure everything was in place. Should he dab some cologne on or would that be too much?

What the heck was he doing? He was just going to Byleth’s office hours to look at the books she had mentioned in her email to him. He didn’t have to make this a spectacle. He also had class after this meeting and he really did not want people in class to question why Claude put extra effort into his appearance.

He grabbed his backpack and after checking to make sure all of the leftover incense was hidden away (getting hit by a random room check would not be ideal with the incense out), he headed for Professor Hanneman’s office.

Reaching the door, he saw she was currently in a meeting with someone, so he leaned against the wall and pulled out his phone to scroll through social media while he waited.

“Thank you, that was a very concise and descriptive lesson.”

Claude looked up and stiffened as Edelgard walked out of the office. She looked at Claude in surprise, obviously not expecting to see him standing there. Oddly enough, her hair was brown in this world instead of white. He assumed it was due to a similar reason as Lysithea’s hair. “I wasn’t expecting you to be the type to come to office hours.”

Claude shrugged. “Just thought to get some things clarified. Our midterm papers are due next week.” Out of habit, he looked around but didn’t see Hubert anywhere. Weird. Usually the student council secretary was always glued to Edelgard’s side. Despite her being much calmer and not as war-hungry, he could not help but throw up his guard. His memories of the war in the other world was still too fresh and he technically had no idea how the war even ended.

“I keep forgetting that despite your attitude, you are actually a diligent student. I still think you should join us on the student council Claude. You just have a way of drawing people towards you.”

Claude shrugged. “Sorry but I don’t really have an interest in that. Between you and Dimitri as your vice president, I think you have everything covered.” Well, unless Dimitri loses an eye and goes crazy but Claude had a feeling that shift in personality wouldn’t happen in this modern world.

“Well, it’s something to think about. You can always run next year.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Claude didn’t relax until Edelgard walked down the hall and took the stairs down to the first floor of the building. “Based on how you react in the other world when things don’t go your way, I would rather not,” he murmured with a roll of his eyes. Unfortunately, due to his family being incredibly wealthy, he had known Dimitri and Edelgard since he was a child. At first Claude enjoyed having them as playmates, and then he started having dreams of what happened in the future in the other world and well, he thought it would be for the best to not associate with them much anymore.

The one unfortunate thing to come out of their brief friendship was that Edelgard had picked up on Claude’s leadership ability. He really did not want to be on the student council. The other him had a difficult time holding the Leicester Alliance together, all this Claude wanted to do was enjoy his youth.

He knocked the door before pushing it open.

“There you are Claude, I was thinking you might have forgotten.” Like last time she sat at her little desk. There were no papers scattered on it. Instead she had a pile of leather bound, old books along with her notebook. “Were you able to open the files I sent through your email?”

“Yeah, those are very helpful.” He took the seat next to her and became hyper aware of the fact that if he stretched out his legs too far, he would brush against her foot.

“I’m glad to hear that.” She picked up the top book in the small pile, opened it to a page marked by a bookmark and held it out to him. “I wasn’t sure if these were what you were looking for, so I wanted to run it by you first. The copy machine is down the hall so I can run over there and make a quick copy for you if it works.”

“I can do it, you don’t have to.” The book felt old in Claude’s hands, the pages yellow and worn, the musty smell of book glue rising to his nose. He had to resist the urge to take a long whiff. He really did enjoy that old book smell.

“This is Professor Hanneman’s private collection. I have to do it otherwise I’m going to get in trouble with him.” She laughed.

He pretended to focus on the book, but he was paying attention to the warmth expression on Byleth’s face. So different from the more composed expression of the Byleth in the other world and yet Claude’s feelings were strong, if not stronger because of it. She just looked so happy and he was happy for her.

“Claude, does that book work?”

“Ah, yes it does.” He carefully put it down as Byleth gave him the next one. This one had a whole chapter and skimming through it, he saw it discussed theories about raising wyverns for war. “This one is also good too.”

“I will admit, I did not take you for one interested in ancient beasts.”

“It’s just cool to read about it. I collected wyvern figures when I was a kid and I had a dream of riding one someday.” Claude shook his head. “Let’s just say little me was devasted when I found out they were extinct.”

“Oh no, that must have been very upsetting.”

“Quite traumatizing for a nine-year-old. But ever since then I’ve been interested in them, especially stuff about how people rode them into battle.”

“Well I’m glad I could help you out with that then. Here’s the next book.” Byleth frowned and looked at the book pile.

“Something wrong?”

Her eyes scanned the room and they brightened as she looked at something behind Claude. “I knew I was missing one. Hang on, let me get it.”

Claude looked down at the current book in his hands and tried not to think about Byleth passing so close next to him. She had a slight floral scent wafting off her. Perfume? The Byleth from the other world didn’t wear perfume from what he recalled.

“Do you need help?” He glanced behind him and noticed Byleth was standing on her tiptoes, reaching for a book on a higher shelf.

“Don’t worry, I got it.” She waved his concern away. “Do you want copies of what is in that book as well?”

Claude checked the book in question. Nope, the time period was too late, it discussed stuff that was not really the “ancient” Fodlan he was looking for.

He heard a curse from Byleth and a sharp cry of pain.

Claude’s attention snapped in her direction, ready to leap out of the chair if need be. Based on the sound she made, he thought she had knocked some books off the shelf, and it landed on her. Nope, it seemed like the books were in place. Her back was to him so he couldn’t see what had actually happened.

“You okay Te-Byleth?” He got up and approached her.

She was half leaning against the shelf, a clenched fist pressed against the left side of her chest. She gave him a small smile but he could see the strain in her eyes. “I think I pulled a little something while reaching for the book I wanted.” She chuckled but the sound felt hollow and wrong to Claude’s ears. “Should just have had you get it for me. It’s the one with the black spine and gold writing.”

He saw the book in question and reached over her to pull it off the shelf. “This one?”

“Yup, that one.”

He realized what an awkward position he was in now. His one arm was leaning against the bookshelf to give himself leverage but due to this, it blocked Byleth off from the rest of the room, and there was only a filing cabinet behind her. He was so close that he could see each individual eyelash and the scent of the floral perfume wafted around him. Sweated dotted her brow and her eyes shifted up to him as he had not moved for a couple of moments. In response, Claude jumped back, the book clutched tight to his chest. “Sorry.”

She waved the apology away. “It’s a small office, there isn’t much space at all.” They returned to their seats and she took the book from him and she consulted her book and gently and carefully flipped through the old book.

Maybe Claude was just hyper aware of being so close to her before, but he noticed her face had a redder tint to it than usual and her fingers were shaky as they turned the page.

“Are you sure you don’t have to go to the medical wing?” he asked cautiously. “That sound you made earlier was a bit alarming.”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry. Just pulled something. That kind of stuff happens when you get older. Anyway, I think most of this book would be helpful to you. Here you can look through it if you like.”

He took the book from her, very aware of how her hands shook while handing it to him.

As he looked through the book, he could hear Byleth breathing. Her exhaled breathes shivered in the air. There was something wrong here and he had no idea what.

He gave her a smile and put the book on the desk so she would not have to take it from him. “I think that book would be helpful as well. That would be a lot to copy.” He winked. “Perhaps I can just take it now and we can keep it our little secret.”

He hoped she would laugh at his joke but instead she just gave him a pained smile. “Don’t you even think about it. I’ll talk about it with Professor Hanneman.” She looked at the other books. “How about I make the copies and give them to you in class tomorrow?”

“Sure, that’s fine.” Claude stood, sensing she was dismissing him. He headed for the door, paused and looked back at her. “You…you don’t have to be strong in front of me Teach, it’s okay, I won’t judge you.” He flushed, realizing that was probably really overstepping his bounds so he gave her a nod before slipping out of the room.

***

As soon as Claude left, Byleth got to her feet and managed to make it to the door and shut it. She flicked off the lights so if anyone walked by, they would think she had stepped out for a bit.

With that taken care of, she slid to the floor, her back against the door and she curled into a fetal position as she let the pain in. Her breath came out in short ragged gasps as pain raged on the left side of her body like a thousand daggers were being thrust into her repeatedly. “I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine,” she repeated through her ragged breathes.

“Everything is okay, nothing is wrong, you’re okay…” She had only done this job for a little more than a week. She couldn’t give up on it now. Not with midterm papers coming in next week. Professor Hanneman was counting on her.

Thankfully it seemed to only be a short spell as after ten minutes she could feel the pain fading.

She sucked in a few deep breathes and relaxed her clenched fists and tension filled shoulders. Who know trying to reach for a book would trigger it? “Couldn’t you wait five minutes until after Claude had left?” She tapped her chest but of course there was no answer to her question.

She wondered if he noticed. She tried to hold it in to not have him worry. Her job was to encourage him to learn, he didn’t have to worry about her. Although based on how he was acting, she had a feeling he had seen through her. Ugh, great.

Resting her hands on the ground, she pushed herself to her feet. Thankfully her legs held her although they were shaking a lot. As long as she was sitting she would probably be okay. With a long sigh, she turned the lights on and opened the door and set it ajar before going back to her seat and collapsing in it. Thankfully she had another hour of office hours before needing to assist Professor Hanneman with a class. Hopefully no students wanted to drop by but even if they did, at least she could talk to them sitting down.


	8. Chapter 8

Byleth looked so much better today.

“Claude, you’re really staring at her,” hissed Hilda under her breath.

Claude took his eyes from her and looked at his friend. Professor Hannmen was wrapping up his lecture as quickly as possible and Byleth had to dash through the slides to keep up. The students that really cared about their grades were furiously writing and typing to get everything down. This had occurred due to Professor Hanneman getting sidetracked halfway through lecture and going on a long tangent about crest theory and why crests did not exist anymore. Claude had been incredibly interested in that conversation due to his dreams.

However it wasn’t a part of the lesson plan so Professor Hanneman had to burn through the rest of the actual planned lecture at light speed before the end of class.

“Well, looks like I am going to have to finish up the rest of it next week. Remember that your midterm papers are due next class! And I do not accept late work on it!”

Hilda sighed. “Man, this weekend is going to be terrible.”

“Oh so you won’t be coming with us over the weekend to the cake shop?” Lysithea had wanted to meet up to get the all the details from Claude about Byleth and she was going to help coach him further on connecting to the memories of the other world. Besides that one memory, he had naturally gone back to dreaming about the events chronologically. Sure it was interesting stuff but right now all he wanted to do was to know more about what happened during the war and what happened between him and Byleth. And maybe Claude could learn some tricks on being so cool from that older version of him.

“Of course I’m coming! I want to hear everything, especially since she is ahead of you in all of this! I’ll just bring my laptop and work on my paper while we’re there.”

“Uh huh…” As the two of them walked towards the exit, Byleth met Claude’s eyes and gestured for him to come over. Hilda giggled as Claude walked over.

“Don’t think I forgot!” Byleth reached into her bag and pulled out a manila folder and handed it to him.

A quick look inside and he saw it was scanned copies of the book pages. “Still working on convincing Professor Hanneman to let you borrow that book for a bit.”

“Thanks…Byleth.” Since he was right next to her, he took the moment to really give her a once over. Her hands were steady and her smile normal. There was no trace of the pained expression she had yesterday. “You feeling okay after yesterday?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, I’m feeling much better. It was just a quick pull, so everything is back to normal now.” Her smile was sunny and bright and Claude had to look away as a blush was beginning to creep up his neck.

“Well that’s great to hear. This will help out a lot and I hope I can get access to that book soon. If not I can just read it and take notes while you’re in the office?”

“Huh, I didn’t think of that. Perhaps we can arrange something like that. But make sure you finish your midterm paper alright?”

“I’m almost done with it, Teach, don’t worry.” He put the manila folder in his backpack and tossed it over a shoulder before moving away from the podium. Other students went to take Claude’s place and they bombarded Byleth with questions of their own.

“Conversation go well?” asked Hilda as they stepped out of the classroom.

“Very much so I would say. Got some more research on ancient Fodlan. She scanned and got me copies of pages out of a few books.”

“Oh? You were alone again with her during office hours?” Hilda’s eyes twinkled. “You have to give me all the details.”

“Yeah, I was going to, something happened that was a little weird.”

“Weird?”

They walked out of the building and Claude shivered as the cold air wrapped around him. Ugh, winter was coming way faster than he would like.

“Holy crap! They do go here!” Sylvain, Felix and Ingrid were walking together and the other two stopped as Sylvain looked at his phone with wide eyes.

“Seriously, what are you going on about?” Ingrid looked at him annoyed.

“It’s that author he likes,” sighed Felix.

“Guys, this is amazing news.” Sylvain let out a gasp and his eyes widen. “They’re breathing the same air as me right now.”

“Claude, you okay?” asked Hilda.

Claude looked away from the conversation and followed Hilda in walking in the opposite direction. Sylvain had to be the person Bernadetta was talking about. He felt so bad for her. Bernie was sweet and Sylvain was…well he was Sylvain. And based on what he knew of Sylvain from the other world, it was more than likely this one also flirted and spent a lot of time with women. Maybe he should talk about it with Bernadetta the next time they had practice.

“Earth to Claude!” Hilda waved her hand in front of Claude’s face.

“Hey now!” He swatted her hand away.

“Pay attention! I was asking what time you were planning on going tomorrow.”

“Around noon.”

***

Byleth hurried across campus without her usual side satchel for once. Instead she just had a small purse with her wallet and other basic things and she carried a small bouquet of flowers. She reached the stables and saw the equestrian club was hard at practice. She had to smile as she spotted Ingrid and Marianne practicing their show jumps and Ferdinand was…well, Byleth wasn’t sure what he was doing besides riding his horse around in circles.

The person she was looking for was watching the practice near the fence. Her grandmother and president of Garreg Mach Academy, Rhea. Despite getting on in years, she still looked to be in her early thirties at most. Her back was straight, her hair a beautiful light green and she was always dressed to impress in a pantsuit. Next to her, like always was Seteth. From what Byleth was able to gather he was a professor at the college as well but he spent most of the time working as Rhea’s right hand and helping her run the academy.

“Hi Grandma.” Rhea wasn’t one for hugs so Byleth just gave her a smile and held out the flowers.

“Byleth, you shouldn’t have.” Rhea took the flowers from her and smiled. “Seteth, these would look lovely in my office, wouldn’t you say?”

“Quite so.”

“You can take care of the rest correct?”

“Of course Rhea.” Seteth took the flowers from Rhea and nodded at Byleth. “It is good to see you are in good health.”

She mentally winced remembering her little “attack” yesterday. “Yup, everything is fine. Is Flayn doing well? She started middle school right?”

Rhea chuckled. “I think Seteth is still recovering from the fact that his daughter is growing up so fast.”

Seteth coughed. “Rhea please. Just because Flayn no longer wants me around when she is spending time with her friends…” Byleth was worried Seteth might shed a tear or two.

Rhea chuckled. “He will need some time, I think. Come Byleth, my car is waiting out front.”

***

“Should I have dressed up a bit more?” Byleth took the seat across from Rhea and was hyper aware of the fact she was wearing jeans in what appeared to be an upscale restaurant. The overall lighting of the place was dim, most of the light coming from the lit candle on each table. Everyone sitting at the other tables were dressed up in fancy suits and beautiful dresses. Sure, Byleth had gone with a pair of dark washed jeans but her casual flannel was definitely not something to wear in a place like this.

“Nonsense, it’s alright Byleth. They would not dream of having us leave.” Based on the shrewd look Rhea gave the wait staff, it was obvious this was a place she frequented often enough that no one would dare complain.

“If you say so Grandma.” Byleth stared at the prices of the dishes on the menu. Those were a lot of zeros.

Rhea chuckled. “Order whatever you like Byleth, I will not ask you to cover the cost with your paycheck.”

Byleth nodded and ordered a steak for herself.

Rhea swirled her glass of wine before taking a sip. “Delicious. It is unfortunate you are unable to have wine.”

Byleth shrugged. “It’s alright. Better safe than sorry right?” She took a sip of the water and found the taste to be “fancier” than she expected. This was definitely imported water if anything.

Rhea put down her wine glass. “Now, tell me how you have been? My little granddaughter, finally working. Is Hanneman pushing you too hard?” Her brow furrowed in concern. “I know he gives a lot of work and midterm papers are going to be coming in next week. I can have you transferred to Seteth before then.”

Byleth laughed. “It’s okay Grandma, I’m enjoying it a lot to be honest. I love being able to help the students with their questions and put them on the right path.”

“I can see it from your expression you are enjoying it. It’s a trait you got from your mother. She always loved looking after others and helping them grow and develop.”

Byleth had to smile at the mention of her mother.

“But you are also like your mother in that you will push yourself farther than you should. I know your father is probably constantly asking you about it, but I will as well. You’re not pushing yourself too hard right?”

“I’m fine. I’ve actually been feeling much better recently.” Well, besides the one thing two days ago but that was most likely a fluke. Those things happened every now and then.

“That’s good to hear. We were all worried about you. Glad to see you have gotten some color back in your face. But I hope you will pace yourself once you get those papers in. You can take your time on getting them back, do not run yourself ragged to do so. If Professor Hanneman gives you a hard time about it…” Rhea’s smile was dangerous.

Threat noted but Byleth knew she was going to try her best to not let that happen. Even though her grandmother and father both worked at the academy, she didn’t want special treatment because of it. “I think I’ll be okay Grandma.”

I will leave it to your discretion then Byleth. Ah, it looks like dinner is finally here. You have to tell me stories of what you’ve been up to while working.”

“Of course Grandma.”


	9. Chapter 9

“Why am I even here?” groaned Hilda.

“Well it isn’t our fault that you wanted to join us,” snapped Lysithea.

Claude had to admit, this conversation was probably incredibly boring for his best friend. The cake shop Lysithea wanted to go was in town and it was partly a bakery and partly a café. As soon as the trio arrived (Claude had won the rock, paper, scissors to drive), they had ordered small cakes and drinks to enjoy while taking up residence at one of the many tables in the café. While Hilda ate her cake and pretended to be focused on finishing up her paper Lysithea had grilled Claude for every detail he could give her about the “Professor.”

Lysithea sighed. “Why did I have to be stuck in the high school division!? I could have had classes with the Professor too.”

“If I remember correctly, weren’t you super smart in the other world? Obviously it is in you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well duh, it was because I had no other choice. My lifespan was much shorter over there and I had a lot I wanted to do.”

“Wait what?” Hilda looked at Lysithea in confusion.

Lysithea held up a lock of her purple hair. “To give a short version of it, I was implanted with a second crest in that other world. It caused my hair to turn white and my lifespan shortened as a result.”

“Wow…that’s…” stammered Hilda.

Lysisthea shrugged. “It’s not a big deal since it’s just the me from that world. This one, well I think since my hair had not changed color, I’m safe in that regard.”

“That’s good because I don’t have anyone else I can talk about this stuff with,” Claude sighed. “No offense Hilda.”

“Oh yeah, none taken. Just been your friend for years, trusting what you were saying was real and you weren’t making none of it up.” Hilda took a large bite of cake to show her distain.

Claude rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“I do wonder about what you said when you visited her office. About her seeming to clutch her chest in pain.” Lysithea curled the lock of hair around her finger. “I do not know the details but I know you knew everything. There was something different about Byleth’s heart.”

“Byleth’s heart?”

“Yes. I think it was related to her hair changing color and why she was able to wield the Sword of Creator. Although this is all speculation on my part. Like I said, I think you and her spoke with Lady Rhea on the matter.”

“I wonder what it is then…” Claude tried to think back on the memories he had of that time but they were disjointed and out of place and most of the dreams he had when he was much younger and he didn’t know where they fit with everything else. “But I really would love your help on getting ahead and being able to focus on memories from that time period.”

“You’re just thirsty to know if you get it on with Byleth or not.” Hilda rolled her eyes.

Claude’s face burned. “Wha… no! Okay, maybe a little but mostly not!”

“Ugh, please stop talking Claude. Just thinking about you with the Professor…” Lysithea shivered.

“You guys are making me sound like such a perv!” He sighed and lowered his voice, realizing he was starting to get a bit too loud. This was a popular café for students of Garreg Mach. Although rumors were hard to spread on a campus that big, he did not want anyone to look at him funny. And the chance of the rumor getting back to Byleth, ugh, he didn’t even want to think about it!

“I just want to know more of what happened over there. Obviously something happened to Teach and I want to know what it is. Sure most of it doesn’t connect to this world but there has to be something there, perhaps a clue of what’s going on.” Her shaking fingers and pained expression came to mind. Whatever it was, she was trying to hide it.

“I can try my best to teach you everything I know but it took me years to get this good at it.”

“Just any more methods that would work without me having to burn incense would be wonderful. I really don’t want to push my luck with the RA.”

Lysithea stood. “I’m going to get another slice of cake, we’re going to be here for a while.”

***

Claude felt like his brain was filled with all kinds of spiritual knowledge and theories. He wondered if he went into a haunted house he could find a ghost or something now. Although Lysithea had made it clear the methods were focused more on helping him create a center of gravity within himself and focusing on his inner self to invoke this other version of him. Or at least that’s how he chose to understand the mumbo jumbo Lysithea had tossed at him.

“Hey Claude, you gonna eat that?” Raphael gestured to Claude’s fries.

“Nope, go ahead big guy.”

“Thanks man, you’re the best!” Raphael grabbed the fries and dropped it onto his already heaping plate of food.

Since, unsurprisingly, Hilda had gotten no work done on her paper at the cake shop, she had locked herself in her room to finish it up. As a result, Claude ended up going to dinner with Raphael and Ignatz. Claude found it very amusing that he got along with members of the Golden Deer house even in this world. Well, except for Lorenz but thankfully they rarely saw each other.

“How’s that painting you’ve been working on?” asked Claude.

“It’s going very well,” replied Ignatz. He moved over slightly as Raphael got a little too euthanistic about eating.

“It’s a painting of the academy right?” asked Raphael through a mouthful of food.

Ignatz nodded. “That’s right. It’s the front of the college side of campus with the tall towers. I have most of it done but I’m thinking about waiting until it snows to finish it. I think the snow itself would add a sort of melancholic element to the piece since there’s no people in the art.” He chuckled and looked down at the pasta he got for dinner. “Sorry for blabbing on about it.”

“Nonsense Ignatz, I’m glad to listen. It’s obviously something you are passionate about.”

“Thanks Claude.”

“Yeah, I barely get it but it’s great you love it so much!” Or at least that’s what Claude thought Raphael said. He was speaking through a mouthful of food.

“Are you two done with your papers for Professor Hanneman?” asked Ignatz.

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” groaned Raphael. “I still have to squeeze out another ten pages.”

“I think I’ll be done on time,” said Claude.

“Not surprised, you always keep your cool about this sort of thing,” Ignatz laughed.

“I do my best.” Claude smiled.

***

It was obvious who had scrambled at the last minute to get the paper together and who had it done ahead of time. There were many a dark circled students in the classroom. Claude wondered if he should have stayed up so he would look just as bad as everyone else. Despite wearing makeup, it was obvious Hilda was only able to keep herself awake due to the large cup of coffee she kept taking sips of every couple of minutes.

Professor Hanneman didn’t seem to be worried about everyone’s plight as he just went into the day’s lesson without commenting on the fact that more than half of the class seemed to be falling asleep.

At the end of class, he gestured to Byleth. “Now, before you leave, make sure to give her your papers. I hope you all put your heart and soul into it, and I can’t wait to read them.”

Considering Byleth was the one collecting them, he doubted Professor Hanneman read any of them. Claude stood and held out a hand to Hilda. “You want me to take yours?”

“Yes please.” She handed hers over and rested her head in arms. “I’m going to close my eyes for a second, let me know when we’re leaving.”

Claude followed the crowd down to Byleth. He could already feel a bit of blush crossing his cheeks as he thought of the last two nights. Lysithea’s coaching had helped a lot and now he was having consistent dreams of the time five years after he originally met her. Their relationship had not progressed to something _more_ yet but Claude could _feel_ the love radiating off him towards Byleth. It made things quite awkward since Claude didn’t think he had one conversation with this Byleth without him sounding like a stupid, ridiculous mess.

“Thanks Claude.” Byleth took the papers from him, glanced up at the sleeping Hilda and chuckled. “Oh and before you go, I did ask Professor Hanneman and he’s alright with you taking notes of the book. Only when I can be there to supervise though so when I have office hours you can come by to do that.”

“Sounds good. I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“See you tomorrow Claude.”

Claude walked back to his seat and poked Hilda. “Come on, let’s go.”

Hilda groaned and opened her eyes. “Can’t I have another five minutes?” she asked with a groan.

“Sorry, no can do Hilda, let’s go.”

“Yeah sure.” Hilda looked at Claude and then narrowed her eyes. “What happened, you look like you’re going to faint?”

“I’ll tell you outside,” he squeaked. It finally hit home what he had just said to Byleth. He was going to be alone in a room with her for close to an hour and maybe more. And he agreed to it without thinking about it. How in the world was he going to survive being in the same room with her for so long and not be an idiot!?


	10. Chapter 10

Claude had no idea why he was worried about being alone in a room with Byleth for so long.

It seemed like she was never alone as there was an almost constant stream of students coming in, asking questions or wanting to discuss a matter with her. A few, like Marianne, had turned in their midterm paper late while others, she gave supplies to, like a scanned paper or other documents. Despite the stream of people and barely having any time to do any work of her own, she seemed happy interacting with the students, her eyes shining in a bright way. Claude remembered the times in the other world, back when they were students at the officers academy and how Byleth seemed to get the same happy expression(albeit more subdued) when she spoke with her students.

“Is that book really difficult to get through?”

“Huh?” Claude startled.

Byleth gestured to the notebook and book in front of Claude. Since the office was incredibly small, Claude was given permission to work at Professor Hanneman’s desk, although he had to sit in a different chair. Apparently the Professor was very particular about that.

“You haven’t written down much and you aren’t that far in the book.”

“Yeah, it’s a bit dense,” he agreed. “But I’m getting through it. It’s very interesting and I like the amount of detail it has about the topics.”

“Good to hear.”

She went back to reading through a paper, her red pen tapping on the desk every now and then. Claude tried to focus back on the book but his eyes kept drawing back to her. Barely five minutes past before another student walked into the office.

Claude had to suppress a groan. Lorenz did not have as much self-control as he looked at Claude in disgust. “What are you doing here?”

“Work obviously.” Claude gestured to the book and his notebook.

“Surprising for you,” said Lorenz in his usual deadpan voice. His expression brightened as he focused up Byleth. “Hello, I would like some clarification on a few points Professor Hanneman brought up in lecture today.”

Claude rested his elbow on the desk, head in his hand as he watched Byleth converse with Lorenz. She was precise and to the point and it surprised him that she knew the answers Lorenz was looking for at the top of her head.

“Thank you, those answers were most helpful.”

“I’m glad I could be of help.”

Lorenz nodded at her and then looked at Claude and rolled his eyes before leaving the room.

“You two must be close friends,” commented Byleth.

“Me and him? No way.” Claude shivered.

“Really? You seem quite casual with each other.”

“We’ve known each other since we were children. Our families have rival companies but Lorenz takes it a bit too far.” Also in the other world, Lorenz was annoying as heck.

“Ah, makes sense then.” She pushed a few strands of hair behind an ear. “I just realized with people coming in and out, it might be distracting for you.”

“No, I’m good, I can focus. I’m more impressed with you to be honest.”

She tilted her head slightly. “What do you mean?”

“Like you’ve been answering questions non-stop for almost two hours. I would probably go crazy at that point but you always keep the same level of enthusiasm and answer everyone honestly.”

Byleth blinked in surprise. “Well, I find it fun being helpful to others.” Her eyes darkened for a moment and Claude could see she was wrestling with something in her past. It faded as quickly as it came on and her eyes sparkled. “So, I don’t mind it really. Even if I do have a lot of papers to grade through.”

“Is Professor Hanneman really forcing you to grade all of them?”

“Well that’s my job. He’s a busy man with his research and whatnot. I don’t mind.”

Claude wished he could offer to help but that was probably not allowed. Instead he focused on the book and went back to taking notes.

Office hours were almost at an end and Byleth stretched and stood. “Alright, that’s it for today.”

Claude was happy he somehow managed to almost get through a whole section in the book. Even though he had been distracted and hyper-aware of Byleth, it was a difficult text, some of the words were archaic and hard to translate into the modern tongue.

“Thanks for this…Byleth.” No matter how much he said it, her name just did not slide off his tongue like it should.

“It’s no problem at all.” She put the mid-term papers in her satchel.

“Whoa, hang on, are you going to carry all that?”

“Of course?”

Claude paused, not really sure if he should offer or not. But he remembered the last time he was in the office and how her hands shook. She looked better now but it still worried him. Especially with Lysithea mentioning the Byleth in the other world had something happen to her heart. “If you don’t mind, I’m free for the moment and I don’t mind carrying it to your car or whatever.”

He could see the hesitation in her face as she looked at her bag and then at him and then back to her bag.

Claude rubbed the back of his neck. Maybe that was overstepping his bounds a bit.

“Alright.”

“Huh?”

“I said alright. It wouldn’t be for far though. Just to the bridge that spans over the highway. I live past that.”

Ah, that made sense. A lot of the professors lived in the apartments just off of campus. Oh man, that meant she had probably been living close to him this whole time and Claude had no idea!

He walked over and took the satchel from her and almost bowed over from the weight. How much did papers weigh!? Holy crap, this weighed more than his backpack with his textbooks! He kept on a smile as he slung it over his shoulder, trying to appear like the weight didn’t affect him at all. How did Byleth manage to carry this around with her!?

***

Normally Byleth would have refused Claude’s offer but she was a bit worried about the weight of the papers.

It was way too heavy. When she had carried them with her earlier to the office hours to grade, she could feel her heart pounding uncomfortably in her chest from the exertion. Yeah, she really should have left most of them at home and only brought a few with her instead of almost a third of the pile.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Claude adjusted the weight of the satchel for probably the fifth time in the past five minutes. “Fine, fine. Everything is fine Teach!”

Again with that nickname. 

Byleth adjusted her coat as the cold wind blew across campus. A few students were milling around outside in conversations with their friends or huddled closer together for warmth. From what Jeralt had told her, once winter hit, it would be rare to see students hanging around outside unless they were heading for class. This would be her first year to see it in person…hopefully.

“Claude, I’m been meaning to ask…why do you call me ‘Teach’?”

Claude stumbled and but managed to catch him. “Ah, well…”

“I’ve noticed you would try to not call me that but then switch back to it.”

“Do you not like it?” he whispered.

Byleth shrugged. “It’s not that I don’t like it, I’m pretty indifferent to it to be honest. But I’m just curious to why you refer to me like that. If I remember correctly, you called me that during our first meeting as well.”

“Ah well umm, it’s a weird reason why…”

“Weird? What kind of weird are we talking about here?”

“Uh, well on the end of you probably won’t believe me.”

Byleth raised an eyebrow. “Which is?”

“Well, uh…it’s kind of…really hard to explain…”

He was floundering so hard that Byleth felt bad. “Well, I don’t really have a problem with it but if you are calling me that because I remind you of someone else…”

“Oh, no, it’s nothing like that, really. You just, always looked like a ‘Teach’ to me, that’s all.”

They slowed to a stop as they reached the bridge. Claude handed the bag over and Byleth tried not to wince as the strap dug into her shoulder. “I have to thank you for carrying my bag this far for me. I’ll see you tomorrow in class then. Should I expect you around during my office hours?”

Claude shook his head. “I have class at that time but the day after I’ll be back.”

“I hope you can get farther in the book this time.”

“I hope so too.”

The air turned awkward. “Well, I should probably go,” put in Claude. “I have archery practice.”

"Of course. I really hope I didn’t make you late.”

“I’ll be fine. Coach Shamir is lenient to her star team members.” He winked before hurrying away at a jog. Despite his words, Byleth had a feeling that Shamir was not as lenient as he made her out to be.

She adjusted the bag’s weight and slowly made her way home. It was a slow process and she stopped every time her heart rate felt like it got too high and rested for a couple of moments before moving again. Better safe than sorry, especially after pushing herself earlier in the day. By the time she reached the apartment the sun had set.

Opening the door, she smelled spices and cooking food “You’re already home Dad?”

“It wasn’t a busy day today.” Jeralt peeked out of the kitchen and frowned as he took in Byleth. “Don’t tell me you carried that bag to work today.”

“I did.” She dropped it on the couch and let a long sigh of relief. She rolled her shoulder back and forth to get the soreness out of it.

“Byleth.”

“It was fine Dad!” protested Byleth before Jeralt could go into a lecture. “I didn’t realize how heavy it was going to be and I thought I could do it. I was much smarter on the way home, one of my students offered to carry it for me and I took it.”

“One of your students?” He narrowed his eyes. “Is this the kid with the braid in his hair and that stupid smile?”

“Stupid smile?” Byleth stared at Jeralt in surprise.

“Yeah, that kid on the archery team.”

“If you’re talking about Claude then, uh yeah.”

Jeralt did something in the kitchen before walking out with his arms crossed. “Dad, I know technically we’re not supposed to ask this kind of stuff with the students.”

“Oh I don’t care about that. I’m glad he offered because then you weren’t carrying this heavy bag for so long.” He picked it up and grimanced. “Anyway, I won’t lecture you about that but I want you to be careful around that kid okay?”

“Around Claude?” Byleth looked at Jeralt like he had grown another head.

“Yeah, he…there’s something about him I don’t like.”

“Cause the way he looks at me?” Byleth rolled her eyes. “You’re overreacting Dad.”

“Maybe I am but watch out for him. I know you’re around the same age so…”

Byleth could feel heat creeping up her neck. “DAD!” For the love of Seiros, she hadn’t even thought about that before.

“I should not have been surprised that you wouldn’t think of that.”

Byleth buried her face in her hands. “Dad stop, it isn’t like that at all.”

“Hmm, if you say so. Anyway, set the table for me. Dinner is almost ready. And you can go back to grading and stuff after dinner if anything.”


	11. Chapter 11

Shamir was not happy about Claude being incredibly late to practice. Claude didn’t mind having to run the extra laps and do even more pushups than usual. Being able to help Byleth made it worth it.

For the next three weeks, he spent all the time he could in Byleth’s office hours attempting to take notes on the book. He had barely got three chapters in and he had to admit to himself it was Byleth that kept him coming back rather than the book as he spent more of the time watching her converse with other students and having short brief conversations with her than doing the intended job at hand.

Claude put down his bow and stretched his arms over his head. Shamir was really putting them through the works. The first competition of the season was coming up and she was obviously gunning for the team to take first place. Normally Claude would not mind but since he was spending a good portion of his free time with Byleth, it meant he had to scramble to get all his work for classes done in the time he had left in between. Which wasn’t much to be honest.

He was already mapping out how to spend the rest of his evening to be the most efficient when Bernadetta approached. Well it was more she stood awkwardly next to him and shifted back and forth in place.

“What’s up Bernie?”

“Oh, uh, just wanted to uh, tell you something if you aren’t too busy.”

“Well practice just ended so I would say I’m pretty free for the most part.” Claude winced as he noticed Shamir had told a few of the club members to stay behind, including Ashe. Ah, they were probably the ones that needed a bit more practice.

Not wanting to possibly get roped into that, Claude followed Bernadetta towards the locker rooms. “What’s up?”

“So uh, remember the advice I asked you about a few weeks ago?”

Claude cursed and she jumped back in surprise. “Sorry Bernie, it’s not you, I just remembered I was supposed to tell you a while ago. I think I figured out who your fan is.”

“Really?” she squeaked. “Well that’s great. We’re planning on meeting in person. Most likely at the ball at the end of the month.”

Claude frowned, already seeing how this could go poorly, especially during Garreg Mach Academy’s year ball(an odd thing to have similar to the other world). Especially since he suspected it was Sylvain Bernadetta was conversing with.

“You think it’s a horrible idea?” She frowned.

“Well, not horrible per say.” Claude scratched the back of his head, trying to figure out the best way to say it without crushing her dreams. “So, the person I think it is, he’s in my history class. He mentioned a few times about reading stuff from Fluffyteddybear…something or other. There were numbers there.”

Bernadetta’s eyes widen. “That’s my username. Who is it?”

“Do you know who Sylvain is? Uh, I think his last name is Gauiter. Red hair, pretty tall.”

She frowned and shook her head. “What kind of person are they?”

Not the kind of person sweet, innocent Bernadetta should be around based on what he knew of Sylvain from the other world. Although he seemed to have calmed down a bit in that regard after five years, but everyone had changed because of the war.

“Uh, well, just be careful Bernadetta, just be on your guard a bit. He’s a bit of a player. I doubt he would do anything to you but just be aware of it alright?”

“A player?” Her eyes widen.

Maybe that was a bit too much information. He could see her panicking.

“But like I said, he can be nice sometimes too, he probably won’t try to hit on you or anything since he really enjoys your stories.” Claude really hoped he was figuring this out right. At least for her sake.

“Yeah, maybe…” She frowned and looked down at her bow.

“Maybe I said too much,” said Claude with a wince.

“No, it’s okay. I understand you’re looking out for me Claude.” They reached the locker room and she gave him a nod. “Thanks for the information. It is very helpful for me to know that.”

Claude waved but he had a feeling he might have messed something up there. Or he made it better. Who knows? All he knew right now was that he had a lot of work to get done tonight.

***

“Thank you for the great learning!” Petra stood and bowed low to Byleth.

“It’s alright, I’m glad I was able to explain it well enough for you.”

Claude had to smile as Byleth looked incredibly proud of herself as Petra left the office with a smile on her face and a skip in her step. Petra had come by almost every office hour to ask questions about the lesson. Apparently, Professor Hanneman spoke too quickly for her and the material was not one hundred percent clear. Byleth had somehow, in between all the work Claude had seen her do, came up with a simplified note version to give to Petra and Byelth would go over it with the Brigid student and answer any more questions Petra had.

How in the world Byleth did all this, Claude had no idea. Especially since last week, she had given back the graded midterm papers(Claude had gotten a hundred like always). He didn’t remember the Byleth from the other world being this productive but he had to note, just from watching her, there seemed to be a sort of frantic pace to her work, like she was trying to get it done as fast as possible but somehow still seemed to keep the high quality of work.

And from their quick chats over the past few weeks, Claude had learned that Byleth had been home schooled which was the reason why she had never attended Garreg Mach despite her father working here. She was also a natural at any sports that involved “weaponry” and even she made fun of the fact that she was so good at it. He loved learning all these little details about her, as it really set this Byleth apart from the one he was experiencing in his dreams.

“Are you excited for the ball at the end of the month? I hear it’s the talk of the campus.”

“I mean who wouldn’t be?” He shrugged. “It’s kind of one of the biggest events on campus.” It also marked the end of the fall semester and the college portion of the academy went on break for about a month afterwards.

“Have you decided who you are going with?”

Claude almost dropped his pen.

She laughed. “You don’t have to look so surprised about it. I’ve heard it was common for people to ask someone to go with them.”

“True,” he agreed. “But it’s common for some to go alone as well.”

“Ah, I’ve heard that as well.” Her eyes twinkled. “I’ve noticed you’re very close to the person you sit next to in Professor Hanneman’s class. Hilda right?”

“Hilda is just a friend.” Claude shivered at the thought. Dating Hilda would be like dating his sister. Nope.

“Well that makes sense. Sorry for assuming. Although perhaps I was overstepping my bounds a bit there.” She sighed. “Sorry about that. Sometimes when I talk to you, I forget you’re technically supposed to be a student in one of the classes I’m TAing in.”

Claude shook his head. “No, it’s alright.” He was glad she was loosening up around him. It reminded him of the relaxed way he spoke to Byleth in the other world. Was it because of their relationship over there that Byleth was opening to him quickly? Or was he just looking way too hard into this? Maybe it was that. She was very casual speaking to some of the other students that visited her frequently.

“Are you excited for the ball?”

“Me?” Now it was her turn to look surprised.

“Yeah Teach. Professors go as well and I think TAs are allowed too.”

She nodded. “I am allowed to go. Still deciding on that.” She chuckled. “Your final papers will be in by then and unlike with midterms, I only have a week to grade them all. I might be stuck at home trying to get through them in time.”

Claude looked down at his shoes and then at her. “Will you be bringing someone?” he mumbled. He gave his signature smile to offset the comment. “You asked me so I have to ask you.”

She laughed again. “Fair enough.” She shrugged. “Probably not. I know a few of the other TAs are bringing each other but I’ll probably go alone if anything.”

The question was on the tip of Claude’s tongue. Should he ask her? Would it be weird to ask her? What if she said no? Would it make these office hour meetings awkward then? Heck, he probably couldn’t come back to these office hours and hang out with her? Why wasn’t he cool like the him in the other world? He was such a smooth talker!

“Crap.”

“What’s up?”

Byleth looked up from her phone. “Professor Hanneman said a couple boxes were delivered for him downstairs. He can’t come get them so he asked me to bring them to the office.”

Claude marked the page he was on and closed the book. “Do you need help?”

She let out a long sigh and stood. “You already have a limited time with that book, I wouldn’t want to waste more of your time.”

“Nonsense Teach. Let me help out. I have muscles after all.” He showed off his biceps, only at the last moment realized how dorky that probably was.

She giggled. “I see that. Alright, the boxes are downstairs.”

He followed her down the stairs and onto the main floor of the history building. The boxes were quite clear to see and in a small pile next to the front door. “Is that like…ten boxes?”

“Apparently so.” Byleth pulled a hair tie off her wrist and used it to put her hair into a high ponytail. Claude looked away as he became hyper aware of the back of her neck. He could already hear Hilda making fun of him for being so “thirsty”.

She rolled up her sleeves and stretched her hands. “Shall we get to work?”

***

The boxes weren’t too bad. Obviously whoever had packed them were smart enough to make them light enough for Byleth to carry comfortably. The problem was, since the elevator to the second floor was out of service, they had to carry the boxes up a flight of stairs.

During the first three trips up she was okay, but by the fourth, she could feel the uncomfortable pounding in her chest. She dropped the box on Professor Hanneman’s desk and took in a few slow breathes to calm her heart.

“Teach…. you okay?” Claude looked at her in concern.

She gave him the best smile she could. “Fine. It’s just been a while since I worked out this much. Let’s get the last set of boxes.”

“We could take a short break?” he offered.

“It’ll be fine. We really should get those boxes out of the hall though. Wouldn’t want someone else grabbing them. Apparently they are important files for Professor Hanneman’s research.”

“If they were so important, why weren’t they delivered here then,” mumbled Claude.

She had to smile at his pouty face. It was just so adorable-hang on, where did that thought come from?

Byleth shook her head. “Let’s finish this off alright?”

As they took the flight of stairs back down to the first floor, Byleth could feel the heart beating uncomfortably, the beats skipping slightly and there was a slight twinge there as she walked. Maybe it would be best for her to take a break. After the final box though. Professor Hanneman was counting on her and she couldn’t let him down. And putting the burden on Claude to carry the rest of them himself didn’t sit right with her. Yes, he offered to help but this was her job. This was assigned to her and she could not let Professor Hanneman down!

She lifted the final box and winced as the weight settled in her arms. The weight was the same as the other boxes but it felt like it weighed a heck of a lot more. She focused on putting one foot in front of the other as she followed Claude back up the flight of stairs. These were the stairs she took every day to get to Professor Hanneman’s office. It usually was a simple trip, one she could usually make in a sprint without issue.

Right now though, it felt like a mountain. Her legs shook as she struggled to make her way up each step. Her heart was definitely protesting this exertion, the beats painful against her ribcage. She adjusted the grip on the box, her palms starting to sweat.

When they reached the top, she let out a long sigh of relief and then had to focus on walking down the hall and into the office itself. By the time she dropped the box, her legs were shaking and the twinges of pain were turning into fire around her heart.

“Teach, you’re really not looking okay…” Claude leaned in close to her, his eyes wide in concern.

Byleth rested her hands on the desk and tried to slow her ragged breathing. From his point of view, she probably looked worse for wear. Sweat was pouring from her, legs and arms were shaking and her face was flushed red. She probably looked like a mess.

She let out a small hiss of pain as the fire in her chest began to grow hotter. Ugh, she really should not have carried that last box up here.

“Teach, I’m going to go get some help.”

“NO!” She grabbed his wrist before he could move away. “It’s…it’s fine. Really, it’s fine.” She let out another cry. “Claude…if you don’t mind, close the door and turn off the light. I don’t want anyone to see me like this.”

“But Teach…you really don’t look good.”

“Claude, _please_. This…” Her nails dug into her palms and she knew she wasn’t going to be able to stay standing for much longer. “This is normal for me. It…happens every now and then. Just close the door…please?”

Claude seemed to be searching her expression for something and then he nodded. “Okay. I’ll just close the door.”

“Thank you.”

As Claude went to do that, she collapsed to the floor, her back against Professor Hanneman’s desk. Her vision blurred from the pain but for a moment she thought she saw someone else standing where Claude stood. He looked similar to Claude but he was broader, and a golden cape hung over a shoulder.

Another wave of pain overcame her and she curled into a fetal position to wait for it to pass.

***

Claude was incredibly stupid. Why in the world was he listening to Byleth? She looked terrible, like she was in the middle of a bad flu and that was putting it lightly. He should be calling for help not shutting the door and flicking off the lights so no one would know she was in here.

By the time he finished all that and turned around, Byleth was curled into a fetal position, ragged gasps of pain escaping her lips.

What in the world was he supposed to do right now? He crouched next to her and reached for her shoulder. “Teach…”

She blinked through tears and looked at him. “I’m…fine…it’ll pass…” she managed to choke out.

Obviously, she was anything but that but it seemed like she knew what was going on. He remembered the time she had winced in pain and her hands had shook when she had given him the book a month ago. Had this happened to her after he had left? Damn it.

He sat down next to her, cross-legged. “Hey Teach, just to make you a bit comfortable.” He gently grabbed her shoulder and he winced as she let out another cry of pain but she let him position her so her head rested on his thigh.

He kept his hands to himself not sure where he could touch her without causing her pain. He kept his phone out and at the ready to call emergency services if needed.

What felt like forever but in reality was five minutes, Byleth’s pained gasps subsided and her breathing slowly returned to normal, the tension slowly leaving her body in a slow wave. Byleth lay there for a couple more minutes, her breaths slow and long.

Now that it seemed like the danger had passed, Claude became hyperaware of the fact that Byleth’s head was resting on his thigh and every slight movement he could feel ten folds. Also from this position, he had a clear view of the nape of her neck and her collarbone peeking out from under her shirt.

He tore his eyes away and focused on the boring books lining Professor Hanneman’s office. Yes, boring books, the perfect distraction to what was going on. Oh Seiros, what if Professor Hanneman or anyone else walked in right now? With the lights off and the door closed and Byleth lying in his lap like this…

She stirred and his attention snapped to her as she slowly pulled herself up into a sitting position. With a long sigh she rested her back against the desk. “Sorry about that Claude.”

“It…it’s okay,” he stammered out. “Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes. I’m okay now. I just have spells like that every now and then.” She held out her hands in front of her and Claude saw her palms had half-crescent imprints from her fingernails. She let out a sigh. “I probably owe you an explanation for that.”

“Should you really be getting up?” Claude scrambled to his feet and he was ready to steady her if she swayed.

“I still have to finish up office hours.” Her legs seemed to shake slightly but they were able to carry her.

“After something like that!?” Claude stared at her in disbelief.

“It’s fine, as long as I’m sitting down.” She opened the door, peered into the hallway before flicking on the light and returning to her usual chair.

Claude just stared at her. How could she be so nonchalant about this?

“I don’t want to talk about it with the chance of someone coming in and overhearing.” She thought for a moment. “Do you have free time after my office hours? We can speak then.”

Claude thought of Shamir yelling at him for missing practice and he shook his head. That wasn’t important right now. “Yeah, I’m free.”

“Great, we can talk then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The more I write the side stuff about Bernie and Sylvain, the more I realize those two need their own little side adventure. So look out for a possible future work about those two!


	12. Chapter 12

In any other situation, Claude would have been excited about getting coffee with Byleth. Right now though, all he was worried about was Byleth collapsing in pain again.

For the rest of the office hours, Claude had pretended to take notes but he was keeping a close eye on her. The color had returned to her face and her responses to the students that came in were as concise and precise like always. She didn’t have the usual pep but he had not witnessed her crying in pain earlier, he wouldn’t have noticed the slight shift in her demeanor.

Once office hours were over, they went down to the coffee shop on campus to get drinks and they took over a table in the back of the shop. The café was busy like always but perhaps it was for the best. Since it was so loud, no one should really be able to overhear their conversation without either of them noticing.

While Claude got himself a coffee, Byleth had went with tea. One without caffeine, he had noted when she ordered it.

She took out her notebook and rested it on the table and Claude realized she was trying to make it seem like she was teaching him something. Smart, since many of the students on campus knew she was a TA for Professor Hanneman.

“So, Teach, what’s going on?” he prompted when she didn’t start talking.

Byleth pushed a few strands of hair behind an ear. “There really is no other way to go around it I guess. I have a condition, it’s pretty rare but basically my heart isn’t that strong. Sometimes when I stress it out too much, stuff like that happens.”

Claude stared at her wide-eyed as he remembered Lysithea mentioning the Byleth in the other world had something going on with her heart too. It definitely wasn’t anything like this though. “Is there like, medication or something for it?”

“Unfortunately not really. Apparently I have a genetic mutation that makes most of those medication not work for me. There was a lot of testing out different things when I was a child. Half of the time, they sent me to the hospital and some other times I got super sick and unable to leave my bed. But we’ve figured some things out so for the most part so I’m able to function like this although sometimes I can have really bad spells where I have to go to the hospital.” She gave him a pained smile. “I was supposed to start working as a TA in the beginning of the year but I had one of my bad bouts, so I was in the hospital.”

“That’s…”

She shrugged and took a sip of her tea. “It’s something I’ve always had to live with. I can manage it for the most part but sometimes, I just push myself a little more than I should and well, you’ve seen the result of that.”

“Yeah…is there anything else that can be done? Like heart transplants and that kind of stuff?

She shook her head. “The mutation also means that most donor hearts will be immediately rejected. There’s currently only one possible candidate that will most likely work but…”

“But?” prompted Claude.

“It’s my grandmother. They deemed her heart would be the only one that my body wouldn’t reject. However my grandmother is fit as a fiddle and probably won’t pass any time soon so they’ve been looking into other options. My grandmother has even invested into some biotech companies to see if they could grow me a new heart. Nothing usable yet though.”

Claude leaned back in his chair, trying to take all of it in. No wonder she threw everything she had into this job. “How did they let you start in the middle of the year though?”

Byleth hesitated for a moment and then sighed. “Well, Rhea is my grandmother.”

Rhea?! Questions flew through Claude’s mind, mostly about the other world. Was that why Byleth over there had green hair? But if that happened, why didn’t this Byleth have green hair? Oh man, he was going to need to control the dreams a bit more to get to the bottom of that.

“I know, I used my grandmother’s influence to keep the job but everything I’m doing right now is on me. I hate being useless,” she whispered.

“Well, my opinion probably doesn’t mean much but you’re one of the bravest people I know Teach. Don’t make that face, I’m being serious! Like the fact that your heart is a mess but you still work your ass off to make sure all of us students are well taken care. And the fact that you do push yourself to overcome your own limits, well I can’t help but admire that. Although, please rest so you don’t push yourself too far. I…I don’t want to see you like that again,” he whispered.

She dropped her eyes to her drink. “Sometimes I won’t have such a strong pain reaction. Sometimes it’s okay when I push myself that hard and other times…well…. but I do understand where you are coming from. It’s probably unpleasant to watch.”

“That’s not it at all! It’s more that you looked like you were in so much pain.” He gestured to her hands. “You injured yourself like that too and I just hate seeing you like that. In pain I mean.”

“I understand. My father has the same reaction whenever he sees it. I try to keep it under control for the most part.”

Now it was Claude’s turn to dig his nails into his palms. “But what about you though? I mean it’s probably not pleasant right? And not good for your heart.”

She shook her head. “It isn’t but it’s just…frustrating. Like being able to see everyone else do things that I can’t. Even you Claude, you carried five boxes on your own without breaking a sweat and me after box four, my heart decided that it was done with that. It’s just…unfair.” She shook her head and wiped a tear that leaked out of the corner of her eye. “Sorry, I’m usually not this emotional about it. Probably because I had one of the spells. I’m just a bit tired.”

Claude wished he could reach over and give her a hug right now. However, despite her resting her head on his thigh earlier, he felt like this would truly cross a boundary he was not allowed over yet. Plus they were in public.

“I can’t say I know what you’re feeling but…the next time you’re close to having one of those spells and I’m around…I’ll try to help the best I can. Just tell me what needs to be done and I’ll help you.”

She looked at him in surprise. “Claude…”

“I’m being serious Teach. I’ll do whatever I can to help. Listen, I know how to cause a distraction if needed. Say the word and I’ll scream bloody murder and get everyone’s eyes off of you.”

She broke into a smile and a laugh escaped her lips. “I’ll keep that in mind then.”

Claude had to mirror her expression.

Byleth finished her drink and slowly got to her feet. “Well, I think that’s enough depressing talk for today. And I know you have a few articles to read for class tomorrow, although I assume you already have that done.”

“Come on Teach, you expect me to get my work done ahead of time and not scramble like most college students?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Based on your assignments I’ve graded you are way too committed to getting a good grade to even do something like that.”

Claude opened and then shut his mouth. Any argument he gave, he had a feeling she would be able to refute immediately.

“But thank you Claude. For hearing me out.”

“No problem. Anytime Teach.”

She walked close to him and for a moment he really hoped she was going to hug him but instead she held out a hand. “Seriously. Thank you Claude.”

He took the hand and shook it, noting her grip strengthen wasn’t as strong as the first time they shook hands.


	13. Chapter 13

Holy crap, Byleth had her head resting on Claude’s thigh.

She winced as the thought distracted her from cutting the onion and the knife caught her in the finger. A curse escaped her lips as she shoved her pointer finger in her mouth and checked to make sure none of the blood spilled on the cutting board. None. Good.

As she went to the bathroom to get a Band-Aid and clean the injury to keep her hands busy, her thoughts raced around that one small detail that had been lost among the rest of the things that had happened that day.

“My head was on Claude’s thigh.” She saw her face flush red in the bathroom mirror at the thought. That had to be breaking so many rules. Although probably having a pain spell in front of a student was out of the norm too. She could feel her heart pounding but it wasn’t the usual painful feeling but something else. Something else that made her blush and think of Claude’s green eyes and his brilliant smile.

She lightly slapped her cheeks as she returned to the kitchen to finish cutting up the ingredients for the stew. The plan was to have everything cooking by the time Jeralt got home, which according to the clock on the wall, she had about half an hour.

“It was nothing, he was just being nice and making me comfortable…” Was this something she should tell Rhea or her dad? But then she would need to admit that she had one of her pain spells. Then there was that moment where she thought she saw someone else standing where he was.

It was odd but thinking back on it, she knew that the person she saw, despite being broader and in the clothing style of ancient Fodlan, it was Claude. Perhaps what Claude would look like when he was older? But why would she see that of all things? She’s never seen hallucinations in her spells. Then what was going on there?

Ugh, she really hoped she wasn’t developing her symptoms due to the stress of working. She threw the ingredients in the pot, all the spices, added water and waited for it to boil.

Was this something she should talk with him about? Or was it something she should just ignore? Maybe he wasn’t even thinking about it. He did seem like the time who would have dated a girl or two.

Byleth groaned, this line of thought was not going well. How in the world did this even happen? Now that she was really thinking about it, why did she work so hard to make sure Claude would be able to take notes of the book? If anything she could have scanned the book or gotten someone to scan the book for her. And yet she okayed the idea of him taking notes during her office hours, even though she noticed pretty quickly that he wasn’t taking many notes on the book itself. She had taken a gander of the book and despite the dated language, it was a pretty easy read for her which meant he shouldn’t have any problems with it.

This can’t mean what she thought it meant right?

“I’m home!” Jeralt clomped into the living room and took in a big breath. “Stew smells good. Is it going to be ready soon? I’m starving.”

“Give it another half an hour or so.”

“Excellent, enough time for me to jump into the shower. I was checking on the equestrian clubs today.”

“Ah, I can smell it.” Byleth walked into the living room.

Jeralt gave her a deadpan stare. “Are you saying I stink?”

“Well I would say it’s an improvement to how you smell normally.”

She yelped as Jeralt went to grab for her and she jumped back, her hands up, ready to smack Jeralt’s hands away if needed. “No, I don’t want to be stinky!” When her father didn’t make a retort about how Byleth would smell better, she moved her hands down and saw he was looking at her with concern.

“Your hands.”

Crap. She turned over her palms and saw the half-moon marks were still there. She had forgotten about them, usually she did not dig her nails into her palms so deep that it left marks that lasted more than a few hours. Her hands went behind her back, trying to hide it even though Jeralt had already seen them.

“Kid, did you have another one of your spells?”

“Ah, well uh.”

“Byleth!”

Byleth could not help but jump as Jeralt used his “you are not going to argue with me voice”.

“Damn, I’m going to call Rhea.”

“What, no Dad, no. I’m fine!” She scrambled over to him and grabbed his arm before he could reach for his phone. “I’m okay. It was just a quick spell, nothing too big.”

“Nothing too big you say but yet you marked your palms.” He grabbed her hand and turned it over so he could get a better look. “Damn it kid, how did this happen? Did it come out of nowhere?”

She shook her head. “No, I was carrying boxes and well, I carried more than I should have in a short period of time…”

Jeralt let out a few curses. “Kid, you _know_ you’re not supposed to do that. Why did you do that!?”

She grimanced and looked at her bare feet, knowing any answer she gave, Jeralt was not going to like. “I’m okay now Dad, it was just a minor spell.”

“Just a minor spell huh. Well, we’ll see about that. Turn off the stove, I’m taking you to the hospital.”

“No, I’m fine Dad, really! I’m okay. And the stew is going to be done soon so….”

“Byleth, I’m just worried about you.”

“I…I know Dad but…I just…I think I’ll be okay. Really, I’m feeling perfectly fine now. You know I sometimes have these spells when I work too hard. It was just one of those.”

Jeralt examined Byleth’s face, obviously looking for any trace of distress. She met his gaze, trying to seem as nonchalant as possible.

He sighed. “Fine, I’ll let you go tonight. But you are going to the hospital first thing tomorrow morning. And don’t fight me on that kid. I’m giving you the night. You want me to tell him or will you let Hanneman know you can’t come in tomorrow?”

“I’ll let him know,” she mumbled. This was probably the best she could get.

“Good. Now I’m going to shower.” He took a whiff of his shirt and winced. “Yeah, still don’t like the smell of horses.”

Byleth retreated to the kitchen and checked on the stew. Another ten minutes and it probably would be set. She looked at the marks on her palms and silently cursed them for ratting her out to Jeralt. Hopefully the doctor wouldn’t find anything tomorrow. It was her fault the last two “attacks” had happened anyway.

***

Should Claude have told someone about Byleth’s attack? He tapped his pen against the desk as he ran the thought back and forth in his mind. He had been so worried that he had a hard time sleeping last night and he missed having a night of dreams of the other world. He even made it to Professor Hanneman’s class early today as a result of his racing thoughts.

“Damn, how did they find out!?”

Claude glanced behind him and saw Sylvain staring at his phone in shock. Felix rolled his eyes. “What now?”

“Fluffyteddybear48 found out I was and I quote ‘a player’ so they’re worried about meeting me at the ball.”

“Wow, I’m quite impressed with them for figuring out who you were. I wonder how that happened.”

“It’s horrible! I mean, I am totally not going to hit on Fluffybear48. It’s Fluffyteddybear48, it wouldn’t be right!”

“Please stop saying that name over and over again. It’s not helping your case at all.”

“You gotta help me come up of things to say to them.”

“Wait, why do I have to?”

“You’re right, you’re not going to be able to give me anything useful. Maybe Ingrid can help. Oh! Maybe Dimtiri. We should have an emergency meeting after class.”

“Are you seriously calling one over something like this?” Felix rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Duh.”

“Wow Claude, you’re early again today.” Hilda plopped into her usual seat with a wide grin. “Excited to see the love of your life today?”

“Stop it Hilda.”

Hilda’s eyes narrowed. “Whoa, hang on, you’re blushing.” She grinned. “Something happened didn’t it?” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “During office hours right?”

Claude rubbed his braid and looked away. “We’ll talk about it later.”

“Aww, you’re no fun. But it’s probably spicy, I can tell.”

“It’s not that spicy,” mumbled Claude.

“Ah, something _did_ happen.”

Maybe it was for the best for him to shut up right now. Thankfully Professor Hanneman walked in and Claude sat up, ready to look ay Byleth to see how she was faring after yesterday. Only she did not walk in after the professor.

“Hello everyone, we’ll be starting class now.” Hanneman clapped his hands. “I’m sure you have all noticed Byleth is not with me today. She has a matter to take care of this morning so she will not be joining us today.”

Murmurs ran through students in the lecture hall.

Claude thought he was going to be sick. This had to be related to what happened yesterday right? What if she collapsed on the way home? Goddess, why didn’t he think of walking her at least part of the way back?

“Hey, you okay? You’re looking a bit pale,” whispered Hilda.

Claude shook his head. “We’ll talk later,” he murmured.

Class was torture in and of itself. Besides Hanneman having to control the powerpoint on his own, Claude’s thoughts kept running back to Byleth. Was she okay? How would he find out besides waiting until Monday? Damn it, why did it have to be Friday!? At least if it was a week day, he could drop into her office hours the next day. The only form of contact he had was her email but did she check it on the weekend? It was technically a work email.

His thoughts spun around and around that it surprised him when the hour and a half passed and Professor Hanneman dismissed them for the day.

“So, someone needs to update me on what’s going on here,” commented Hilda as she followed Claude out of the history building.

“I don’t know if I can Hilda.” Byleth had made it clear that her heart condition was a secret.

She frowned. “You can’t? But you tell me everything.”

“Yeah but this…this is a little different. It’s not related to the dreams…or it kind of is.” Claude pulled out his phone and sent a message to Lysithea. He really hoped she was free this weekend so they could discuss this further as people who had dreams of the other world.

“Uh okay. But at least tell me this, you know why she wasn’t there?”

Claude nodded.

“And it’s not something casual like a doctor’s appointment?”

“Probably not in the way you’re thinking it is.”

“That doesn’t sound cryptic at all.” Hilda rolled her eyes. “Well you are worried so why don’t you send an email? At least then, it’s something, right?”

“True…” Claude quickly typed one up and hit send. Normally he would have Hilda read it to make sure he didn’t sound like a desperate idiot but since Hilda was unaware, he hoped he was not coming off too strong.

Hilda grabbed his arm and began pulling him around. “Alright, enough of the sad face, let’s get some lunch, I’m starving. And I need to tell you _all_ about what Dorothea did yesterday.”

It was obvious Hilda was trying to distract him from worrying about Byleth and he had to give her credit for trying. He had a feeling though, he wouldn’t stop worrying until she answered the email or he saw her alive and well on Monday.

***

Byleth walked out of the doctor’s office and didn’t see Jeralt in the waiting room. Her dad had insisted on taking her to the hospital for her check-up even though she wasn’t a child anymore. She didn’t doubt if Rhea wasn’t usually super busy, her grandmother would be here as well. Garreg Mach Hospital was just down the street from the academy and also where all of the medical students went to do their residency.

“Come on Dad, if you’re going to babysit me, then do it right…” Maybe he went to the cafeteria? Since Rhea owned the hospital, she made sure it served good food, especially since Byleth spent much of her childhood and teenage years in and out of the hospital.

“Ah, Byleth, what are you doing here?”

Byleth turned to see Professor Manuela approach. It made sense that she was over here often since she was a professor in the medical department. Jeralt had made a few choice comments a few times about how he was surprised that Manuela had not killed a patient due to her being hung over more often than not.

“Just a check up,” replied Byleth with a smile.

Manuela gave Byleth the typical quick once-over. She knew they meant well but it really annoyed her that everyone who knew about her conditioned treated her like a delicate flower, especially if she was in the vicinity of the hospital.

“A check up huh? Well I hope it went well. I saw your father in the cafeteria. I assume you were looking for him?”

She nodded. “I was. Thanks Manuela.”

“Of course. How has the job been so far Byleth? Hanneman can be a bit tactless at times.”

“I enjoy it very much,” replied Byleth. She also liked the fact that Hanneman wasn’t aware of her condition so he treated her like any other TA. She also went out of her way to make sure Rhea and Jeralt wouldn’t tell him. Byleth just wanted to be treated like everyone else.

“Even with all the work?” Manuela rested her hand on her cheek. “I hear he gives his TAs a lot of work to do.”

“He does but I like it. Keeps me busy?”

“Well that is understandable considering…everything. Anyway, I won’t take more of your time Byleth.”

Byleth waved goodbye before heading for the cafeteria. While waiting for the elevator, she took out her phone and made the mistake of checking her work email. Oh boy, a bunch of emails from students. The elevator dinged and she got on with a few doctors and med students as she began scrolling down to see the beginning of them.

She paused when she saw one from Claude. Unlike the others which had subject lines related to the class, his was a simple, “Are you okay?”

She grimaced, realizing that her not showing up for class today probably made him worry. Opening the email, she saw he was brief and to the point.

_“Sorry for overstepping my bounds Teach, but I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. Especially after what happened yesterday. Like I said before, sorry if I’m being way too forward about this but hope everything is okay!”_

Simple and to the point. She responded with a brief message of her own. She was fine and she just had a routine doctor’s appointment. He didn’t need to know the appointment was due to her father freaking out over her having a spell.

“Ah, there are you Byleth.” Jeralt walked out of the cafeteria with a bag of cookies and he was stuffing one into his mouth.

“Dad, seriously? I don’t think eating so many of those cookies are good for your health.”

“Shut up, half of them are for you.” He pulled one of the cookies out and shoved it at Byleth’s mouth.

Byleth took a bite and grabbed the cookie so Jeralt wouldn’t be feeding her like she was five. Ah, she had forgotten how good the cookies were here. They were ridiculously soft, the chocolate chips melted just right.

“So?’ asked Jeralt as they headed for the parking garage. “Since they haven’t admitted you I assume everything is alright?”

Byleth nodded. “Everything is normal. Although she did give me a lecture to listen to my body and rest if needed. She pretty much said that even though this time was fine, next time might not be.”

“So pretty much the advice I gave you. Your old man is wise after all.”

Byleth rolled her eyes. “Dad, come on now.”

He ruffled her hair as they approached Jeralt’s jeep in the VIP section. Being related to Rhea came with many, many perks.

He unlocked the doors and Byleth hopped into the passenger seat. Jeralt got into the driver’s seat but he didn’t turn on the car. Instead he stared out the windshield, with a thousand yard stare.

“Dad?”

“Kid, seriously. Take better care of yourself. I don’t want to have to come home one day to an empty apartment because you kept pushing yourself.”

She looked down at her lap and fiddled with the edge of her phone case. “I understand Dad. I’ll be more careful in the future.”

“Good.” He reached over and gave her a quick side hug.

She looked at him in surprise but Jeralt became hyper focused on starting the car and driving. A slight flush was traveling up his neck. She had to smile and looked out the window. Jeralt wasn’t one for physical affection. He had been probably super worried about her. Especially since she had been hospitalized a few months ago. There were only three weeks left in the semester and a lot of work left to do on her part. She had to be careful for her own health but she was going to make it to the end of the semester without incident.

Hopefully.


	14. Chapter 14

“I’m surprised Hilda didn’t insist on coming along.” Lysithea took a sip of her hot chocolate and took a bite out of her delicious looking chocolate cake.

Claude sat across from her and poked at the slice of vanilla pound cake he had bought. He was grateful for Lysithea’s willingness to meet with him on short notice at the cake shop/café. Although it was probably due to him stating up front that the meeting was related to Byleth and the dreams. Thankfully Byleth had replied to his email saying she was alright and it was just a routine check-up but Claude had a feeling that someone she knew found out about the spell and dragged her to the hospital.

“I thought it would be best for just us two to talk.”

“Just us two huh?” Lysithea crossed her arms and sat back. “So what’s going on?”

“I know you mentioned something about Teach’s heart in the other world. I was just wondering if you could give me more information so I can pinpoint when I found out and I can witness that point in the dreams.”

“Did something happened?” Lysithea frowned.

Claude leaned forward. “I don’t want to go into details because she asked me not to tell anyone but the Teach in this world, there’s something wrong with her heart.”

“Something wrong with her…” Lysithea frowned and tapped her foot on the ground. “After you brought it up earlier, I tried digging around for more memories regarding that matter but I don’t know myself. But it was near the end of the war, when we saved Lady Rhea. You and the Professor went to talk with her and then you found out whatever was going on with her heart.”

It wasn’t much to go on but hopefully it would do?

“You really care for the Professor,” Lysithea said softly.

Claude looked at her in surprise.

“I mean it isn’t too much of a surprise since I’ve seen you in the other world and how you act around her. But it is surprisingly that the you of here feel the same way and so strongly.” She smiled. “You were very insist on helping the Professor find out the truth from Rhea on what had been done to her. You have the same look on your face now.”

Claude rubbed his braid. “Really now Lysithea. Can you help me pinpoint more exactly on getting the right memories from that world? I just want to see what happened with Teach’s heart.”

“You know there’s a chance it won’t translate to what’s happening in this world right? It might do you more harm than good knowing that information.” Her expression darkened. “Sometimes knowing what happens over there and then comparing it to what happens here, I wouldn’t advise it. Sometimes it doesn’t match up at all.” She twisted a lock of hair around a finger.

“I know but, I just have to know, you know?” He gave her a sheepish shrug. His expression darkened. “Seeing her collapse due to her heart condition, if there’s an answer over in that other world…”

“Understandable.” Lysithea pushed her slice of cake to the side and pulled out a few things from from her large purse. A couple crystals and a few plants wrapped with cord.

Claude groaned. “Does this mean I have to burn something in my room again?”

***

Claude was going to have a long cold night.

Lysithea had given him some herbs to burn that will help “ground” him for the specific part of that other world he was looking for. He also had to burn a slip a paper with the possible month of the event written on it and the words “Byleth’s heart. Verdant Moon.” Apparently, this was a way to “control-f” the dreams from the other world. Lysithea could do it without all the setup since she spent a long time training herself to have dreams but Claude had to do all of this to even get close.

“Who knew seeing memories from another world would be such a process?” He checked to make the crack on the bottom of the door was sealed off and wore two coats as the cold wind seeped in through his open window.

The things he did for love.

He had to groan at the thought as he finished burning the paper and let the smoke waft around the room as much as possible before climbing into bed, his head starting to ache from the smell of herbs and incense. It took a long time to sleep, the cold air biting into his skin but he somehow managed to fall asleep.

***

Like last time, he awoke in the middle of the night to a freezing cold room. Like a zombie, he rolled out of bed and shuffled to the window to shut it and the cranked up the heat (bless the dorms for finally turning on heating). He shuffled back to bed and collapsed on it as he tried to process the dreams.

Byleth had an artificial heart over there. The heart of Sothis to be more precise. He rested his arm on his forehead as he looked up at the ceiling. What in the world was he supposed to do with that information? It was utterly useless here. However, could that be the reason why the Byleth of this world had such a weak heart? The Byleth over there did not have a heartbeat, the crest stone was functioning as a heart for her.

Now he understood why Lysithea warned him that knowing what was going on there would not help him. Since crest stones didn’t exist here, there was nothing Claude could do to help her. He rested a hand over his heart and knew if it was possible, he would give his heart to her, no question. However, that did not seem like it would be possible and based on her personality, he knew she would refuse it if it meant that he would die.

“Damn it Teach…” He wanted to help her and yet there was nothing he could do. He turned over in his bed and tried to fall back asleep but it took him even longer than before to do so.

***

“I was thinking you wouldn’t be coming today Claude.”

Claude stepped into Professor Hanneman’s office, his hands shoved into his pockets. Like always, Byleth was at her desk, grading away at something or another. Office hours have been going on for almost an hour and he was surprised to not see a line of people out the door to see her. Although he had seen Caspar skipping down the hallway with a graded paper in hand, apparently incredibly excited with whatever the grade was.

Yesterday in class, she had looked normal like always. There were no hints of the woman that was curled on the floor crying in pain but perhaps that was a good thing. He wanted to go up to her after the lecture but the information he found out in the dreams still haunted him and he ended up walking past her without saying anything.

All he wanted to do was help her but he couldn’t.

However he knew he couldn’t avoid her forever so he decided to try to get back to the old routine before he found out about her heart. At least, so he could keep an eye on her and help her if needed. He didn’t care how heavy the boxes were, he would carry them for her.

“I thought I should get back to taking notes on that book.”

“It’s back on the shelf in the usual spot.”

While Claude went to retrieve the book and sit in his chair, a few students came in to ask questions. Annette and Mercedes. Annette apparently wanted to tell Byleth about a song she made up to remember the dates of events. Claude was impressed by how many gory things Annette managed to squeeze into a two minute song. Although he would admit, he was barely paying attention to that, his focus on how Byleth smiled and encouraged Annette to continue making songs to help her remember things for exams.

Once they left, Byleth glanced at him. “You might need to take notes faster on the book.”

“Huh? How come?”

“I think I’m going to be a TA for a different professor next semester. I won’t be able to be here to supervise you so you can take notes on the book.”

Claude looked down at the book. He had barely made a dent in it. “I guess I will have to read faster then.”

“Maybe,” she replied with a small laugh.

“Do you know who you might be TAing for next semester?”

“Not sure yet. But probably someone with a lighter amount of work.” She looked down at the papers and gave them a soft smile. “My father and grandmother are worried the reason I had that spell is because I am overworked. I did convince them that I can finish out the semester but I know they want me to not be with someone so work heavy next time. My goal is to make it through the whole semester without a spell after all.”

“A great goal to have.” Claude opened and shut his mouth before the question could fall out of him. He knew a part of this barrier she kept up was due to her being a TA for a class he was in. If she wasn’t his TA though…

“Also, uh, I did want to bring up what happened last time.”

Claude glanced at the open door. “Do you want me to close the door?”

“No, it’s fine. I can see if anyone is coming from the angle I’m sitting at. And it’s a quick conversation, at least I think so. I just wanted to address it.”

Claude put down his pen, noticing that Byleth’s face had a hint of red. Was she feeling okay? Was she going to have another attack? “What are you referring to Teach?”

“Oh, just the thing near the end, you know, where you put my head on your thigh…” She dropped her voice to a whisper and Claude had to strain to hear it.

His own face flushed. He had forgotten about that, his focus been on the fact that Byleth’s heart was a mess. “Sorry, that was completely my fault. I just wanted to make your comfortable since…you know. And well, there’s not much else I could use in this room.”

“Right, that’s all it was.” She gave a small strained laugh herself. “Understandable. So perhaps we should just keep that in the past and move on?”

“Yeah, that’s for the best,” said Claude quickly.

Thankfully they didn’t have to talk further on the topic as Raphael came in with a question of his own.


	15. Chapter 15

As the semester slowly reached the end, Byleth could feel the tension rising on campus. Finals were approaching and students spent more time than not stuck in their dorm rooms or working in the student center or the library. Her office hours got even busier, the steady stream of students were turning into a torrent. Even Claude had to dip out from office hours as he was drowning in assignments and he needed to study for finals himself. Byleth was surprised how much she missed having him in the office.

Sure he kept to himself when she was meeting with the other students but his presence had been warm and comforting. Thankfully the awkwardness between them had faded quickly after she addressed the whole resting her head on his thigh thing. They had returned to the usual banter although Byleth was partly disappointed that his reasoning made perfect sense. Or maybe it was for the best his reasoning made sense based on the situation. It would be incredibly awkward if Claude thought of something more in that motion…

She groaned and fell back on the couch at the thought. Why was she of all people developing feelings for Claude!? Or at least that’s what she thought it was. She never really had a crush on anyone before, unless cute doctors counted but that was back when she was a teenager and her options were limited to doctors and nurses that were way older than her.

“That was the loudest groan I’ve never heard in my life.” Jeralt peered over the couch at his daughter. “It’s the Sunday before finals weeks. Here I thought you would be celebrating your last bit of freedom before all those final papers and tests come in.”

“Why did you have to remind me Dad…” She sat up. “I hope you got the popsicles I wanted.”

“Already in the freezer. I still don’t know why you ended up being such a weird kid. Why do you like eating cold stuff in winter?”

“Well you’re the one that raised me so if you have anyone to blame, it’s yourself.” She noticed a fancy silver box sitting on the kitchen table. “What’s that?”

Jeralt was in the kitchen, putting away groceries. “It’s for you from your grandmother. For the ball at the end of the week.”

“For the ball?” Byleth pulled off the lid and saw a beautiful black dress inside with a patterned lace overlay. She carefully lifted it out of the box, knowing it probably had a hefty price tag to it.

“Rhea would go overboard.” Jeralt peeked out of the kitchen to look at the dress.

“It’s super pretty though.”

“Rhea also offered to have her stylist come over here and help you get ready too.”

“What? Really? Is she going to help you too?”

“Hey now! I have a good sense of style alright?”

“Sense of style if you’re referring to twenty years ago.”

She carefully put down the dress and ducked as Jeralt ran out of the kitchen, ready to ruffle her hair for the grave insult. She ran to the other side of the table, so she had it as a barrier between them. “Dad, you know it’s true. Just admit it.”

He rolled his eyes. “Fine, I admit to being old and not keeping up with the times. But you’re going to use the stylist alright? You deserve to have a day to get dressed up and look pretty. Since, you know, you never got to experience that when you were younger.”

She looked down at the box and the dress on the kitchen table. That was true. Since she never went to school, she never got to experience school dances and there weren’t any close friends to give her party invites.

She gave Jeralt a teasing smile. “Well, I will have so many tests and papers to grade for finals though. I might skip the ball to get all those done.”

“I swear if you do that, I’m going to drag you out of the house and make you go to the ball in your pjs.”

“No! Anything but that!” The two exchanged looks and broke into chuckles. “I’ll hang the dress in my room, I don’t want it to get wrinkles.” She carefully picked up the box and headed for her room. “Oh and since there’s a few hours before dinner, you want to play for a bit?”

“You still think you can beat your old man in fighting games? You’re on kid.”

***

As Claude walked into Professor Hanneman’s class for the last time this semester, he realized that once this class was over Byleth would no longer be his TA. With that thing no longer hanging over them, could he ask her out without her finding it weird? Or perhaps she would still not be okay with it?

Oh! Maybe he could offer his number or social media? Just so they could continue to chat? Gah, how in the world was he supposed to do this!?

“Come back Claude.”

Claude turned in surprise to see Byleth already at the podium. She held up a stapled set of papers and Claude realized she had been handing them out to people as they walked in. He gave her a sheepish smile and took the test from her. She gave him a smile of her own before turning to the next student that walked in.

Claude went to his seat and looked over the test. Fifteen pages, mostly multiple-choice and one long essay at the end. He twirled his pen on his fingers as he got to work.

He was almost done with the first page as Hilda took her spot. He gave her a quick glance and a small smile in good luck and she responded in kind before working on her test.

Like always, he was done with plenty of time to spare. However, since this was finals week and students were allowed to leave once the test was completed, Claude usually would hand in his test and leave right away.

However, if he did leave, he wouldn’t be able to see Byleth anymore. He decided it would be for the best to not ask her out and asking for her social media would be way stepping over his bounds. So this would be the last chance he would see her unless by some miracle she became the TA for a class he was in next semester.

As if sensing his stare, she looked up and directly at him. With a smile she beckoned him over. Ugh, she did know about him finishing tests early after all. He sighed, pocketed his pens and stood.

“Thank you,” she whispered as she took the test from him.

He shrugged. “It wasn’t a big deal. Uh, have a good winter’s break.”

“You too. Oh, but I guess I’ll see you again on Friday.”

Friday? Why would he…oh.

He quickly reigned in his smile so he wouldn’t look like a dork. “I’ll see you then.”

He managed to get outside before he broke into a wide grin and he hopped up and down in place in excitement. Byleth was going to ball! He was going to see her at the ball! And the fact that she told him had to mean something right? There was no way she was telling everyone else that, that would be odd right?

Oh man, he needed to calm down right now. Crap, he was actually going to need to put in a lot of effort into his appearance then. He had a suit ready to go but what was he going to do with his hair? Would the suit even look good with whatever Byleth was wearing? Wait, but they wouldn’t be going together so maybe that wouldn’t matter?

Despite how cold it was, he paced back and forth outside the building until Hilda finally walked out. Unlike him, she looked like she had taken a beating. From what he remembered, some of the test questions had been tricky and difficult.

“What’s got you all excited? Holy crap, Claude, your nose and ears are so red. How long have you been out here?”

“Hilda, I need you to come to my room, I need your help.”

“Okay…what for? You do know we have finals in like an hour right? And I think we both want food before then.”

“Crap, we do. Well after that then.”

“Sure but why?”

“Did Byleth tell you she was going to the ball?”

“No but…ohhhh.” Hilda gave him a knowing look and lightly slapped his arm. “Look at you! Don’t tell me two are together now right?”

“No, nothing like that. At least I don’t think so.” He thought back but there was no indication of either of them asking the other out. “But the fact she told me has to mean something right? I’m just not taking this the wrong way?”

“I think it’s looking good for you Claude. And I totally get why you’re asking for my help.” Hilda cracked her knuckles. “Don’t worry, once I’m through with you, you’re going to be the most handsomest person at the ball. She won’t be able to take her eyes off of you!”

***

“If I come back and you’re still grading papers, I’m getting the frying pan and knocking you out myself.”

Byleth looked up at her dad in annoyance. “Dad, I’m almost three-fourths done. The more I get done now, the more I don’t have to work on the weekend.”

“But it’s almost one in the morning and you have a ball to attend tomorrow. You grandmother planned a full day of pampering before then and I want you bright and awake for that.” He gave her a meaningful look.

“Fine,” she grumbled. “I’ll go to bed after finishing this one.”

“You better.” Jeralt gave her another warning look before leaving.

She sighed and looked down at the test in question. Caspar’s handwriting was barely legible on a good day and she could tell he was running out of time based on how his words slurred into each other by the end. She squinted and tried to make out what argument he was trying to make in the essay. In the end she gave him a barely passing grade and tossed the test in the done pile.

After putting all the grades in the computer, she got ready for bed, trying to be as loud as possible so Jeralt could hear from his bedroom.

Once she was in her comfy pjs, she crawled into her bed and looked up at the ceiling. Butterflies danced in her stomach as she thought about tomorrow. Her first real formal event and a bunch of students she was the TA for were going to be in attendance.

A slight blush traveled up her face as she remembered she told Claude she would be attending. Originally she had not planned on it but he had looked so dejected as he told her to have a good winter’s break. And after she told him, she could see he was trying to hold back a smile and he left with a small skip in his step.

That had to mean that he…liked her right?

She covered her face with her hands. Why was she being a lovesick teenager over this? And it had to be alright since she was no longer his TA? Or maybe she had been reading him all wrong?

She turned over in bed, these thoughts not going to help her fall asleep. It was incredibly difficult to turn them off but she somehow managed to fall asleep before long. She was probably exhausted from staying up so late grading papers.

She opened her eyes to her alarm and scrambled to grab her phone and turn it off. Ugh, so early. But Rhea had been specific about what time Byleth had to meet her. She sat up and felt a small twinge in her chest. She paused, monitoring for any other symptoms but thankfully nothing else happened.

“Come on you,” she commented to her heart. “Today is a big day, you’re going to have to work well for me alright?” Thankfully it seemed to be beating as steady and strong as it usually did. It was probably nothing then. Those twinges happened occasionally.

“Byleth, you want to take the bathroom first?” called Jeralt.

“Yes!” she yelled back. “You take forever Dad!”


	16. Chapter 16

“Stop fussing with your hair, I got it just right!” Hilda whacked Claude’s arm to prevent him from ruffling his hair.

“Sorry but…I’m nervous.” He adjusted his tie, it was way too tight around his neck.

“I know you are but still. Sheesh, it’s like you’ve never been on a date before.”

“It’s Teach,” he mumbled. “It isn’t just any date…and she’s not my date!”

Hilda rolled her eyes. Despite wearing a pair of three inch heels, her steps were sure and light. Claude was surprised that Hilda had not asked anyone to go with her but she nonchalantly replied that a few people had asked but she turned them down.

They entered the large hall and Claude had to stop and take in the large chandeliers and the bright decorations. The hall had been decorated up to resemble the time of old and Claude had a strange sense of deja vu as it reminded him of the ball from the dream world. Students and professors mingled freely, everyone dressed up in their finery. A food table took up almost one wall and a few students were already helping themselves to the many, many treats. He also spotted Sylvain waiting near the cakes, awkwardly adjusting his cuffs and looking around.

“This is intense. Oh, there’s Dorothea.” Hilda waved to her roommate.

“You can go over if you want. I don’t need a babysitter.”

“You sure Claude?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll send you an SOS if I get lonely and sad.”

Hilda saluted. “Then I will leave you to it. Good luck Claude!”

Claude waved goodbye before he started wandering around the hall. Every now and then he stopped to have a quick chat with someone. Since he was the son of the von Riegan family, these kinds of events were good for making and maintaining connections. His parents would be proud of him for using this event for to his advantage.

He was halfway around the room when he spotted the throne set up in the back. There was no other way to describe it. Rhea sat on the small stone throne(with a cushioned chair) on a raised dais that overlooked the hall. Remembering the Rhea from his dreams, he wondered if this one was a human or a dragon. She looked awfully young to be Byleth’s grandmother or maybe the family just had really good genes.

His thoughts fled him as his attention was drawn to person standing near the throne, deep in conversation with a few of the other professors on campus.

Byleth.

She was stunning. Her ankle-length dress had black lace which reminded him of the tights the Byleth in the other world wore. Her hair was pulled up in a messy ponytail and even from here, he could tell she was wearing makeup.

Claude felt rooted in place. Should he go up to her and say hi? Or pretend to bump into her? She was talking to a few professors so perhaps it might not be the best time to go up to her?

Of course after he thought that, Marianne went up to Byleth and seemed to strike up a conversation. Byleth turned away from the professors, and was attentive and response to Marianne.

Well that answered that question.

“Come on, you’re Claude von Riegan and you ride wyverns and fought racism in another world, you can do it.” Squaring his shoulders, he walked closer just as Marianne and Byleth finished up their conversation.

Like always she seemed able to sense his stare, as she looked at him without him having to call out. Her eyes widen and he saw a faint trace of red creep up her face. She turned to the professors and said a few words before walking towards him.

“Hello Claude, I told you we would meet.”

“That you did.” He looked at her face in concern and he dropped his voice to a whisper. “Are you feeling okay? Your face looks a bit red.”

“Oh? Oh! I’m fine. It’s just a little warm in here, that’s all.” She looked around her. “It’s my first time at an event like this so it’s a bit overwhelming.”

“Understandable. I’ve kind of being doing these since I was a kid. Family parties and all.” Claude gave a nonchalant shrug.

Awkward silence descended upon them. Should he bring up another topic? Should he suggest they get food? Should he ask why Byleth told him that she was going to be here tonight?

The music picked up and Claude recognized it as the beginning of a dance number. A big part of the Garreg Mach balls were keeping traditions, one of them being dancing.

Claude turned to her and held out a hand. “May I have this dance?”

She looked at the hand and then at him. “I’m not a very good dancer.”

“Don’t worry Teach, I’m pretty good, I had a good teacher of my own. I can lead to make it easier on you.” He paused realizing that might be a bit much. “Are you allowed to dance though?”

She looked at him annoyed and put her hand in his. He had to grin, the Byleth of this world had the same stubborn streak. As he lead her on the dance floor, it hit him that he was going to _dance_ with Byleth.

They faced each other and he showed her where to place her hands. One on his shoulder, the other clasped in his other hand. Claude hesitated a moment before putting a hand on her waist. It was definitely not as well defined as the Byleth from the other world, although he guess it made sense since this one didn’t work out or fight battles.

Or maybe he was just focusing on that thought to not freak out about the fact Byleth was so close to him. This had to be the closest they’ve ever been besides the time she had rested her head on his thigh. He could feel his face burning as she looked down shyly.

She was just so cute right now.

He swallowed before going into the steps of the dance. Byleth followed in time with him, her steps surprisingly light as she kept up with him. At first he focused more on the ground or the spot above her head but as they danced and got more in rhythm with each other, his eyes drifted to watch her. Unlike him, her focus was on their feet, she was obviously trying to keep in time to him.

“Relax Teach and feel the music,” he said with a laugh.

She looked up at him in surprise. “But what if step on your feet?”

“Trust me, these shoes can take a beating. It’ll be fine.”

She looked down at her feet again but as the dance continued, he could see her gaining more confidence in letting him lead as her eyes shifted up from the ground and then she looked at him with a wide smile. He could feel his own heart skip a beat and a blush creeping up his face but he did not stop moving in time with the music. At this moment, all that mattered was seeing the fun and happiness in her eyes.

***

Well, now Byleth could cross off dancing the waltz off her bucket list. As the song ended, Byleth jumped as she heard clapping from the people watching the dancers.

Claude released her and stepped back and she felt a twinge of disappointment as his hand left her waist and he released her hand.

“So?” he asked as they walked off the dance floor to make room for people dancing the next number. It was apparently something faster pace if the music was to go by. Seeing a few couples dancing quickly in time with the music, she definitely knew her heart would not be able to handle it.

“That was nice! Not difficult at all.” She knew she was downplaying it. Claude was an amazing dancer. He managed to lead her in a way that didn’t make it seem like he was bossing her around, just a suggestion of where they were going. He also was able to keep an eye on the other dancers and made sure there was always a space big enough for the both of them. And he managed to make it seem effortless while keeping eye contact with her the whole time.

She fanned herself with a hand. It was really warm in here. Or was it just the blush that was seeping into her face? Her heart was beating a little faster than usual but it was to be expected since she had just been exerting herself a bit. “I think I’m going to step out for a bit. There’s a lot of bodies and I think I’m going to overheat if I stay in here.”

“Oh sure. I know the door in the back leads to the hallway so we don’t have to go outside into the cold.” He paused and winced. “Sorry. Do you want me to come with you?”

She shrugged. “I don’t mind. And you seem to know where it is.”

Claude grinned like he had won the lottery before leading her through the crowd. Every now and then they had to stop as one of her students saw her and wanted to say hello or compliment her on her dancing skills. She deflected those comments. It was Claude’s skill, not hers that made her seem graceful.

Somehow they managed to get through the crowd and Claude held open the side door that led into the hallway. As soon as the door closed behind them, the noise of the hall faded to a murmur, the quiet of the hallway taking over. It seemed to be a walkway leading to the next building as there were no classrooms, just a pathway with large windows that overlooked one of the many courtyards. The overhead lights were off, the only light came from the moonlight through the windows.

Not wanting to walk too far, Byleth walked over to the wall and after making sure the floor was clean, sat on the floor After a moment’s hesitation, Claude sat next to her but kept a foot of distance between them.

She let out a long sigh. “I’m definitely not good with parties. It’s so loud and there’s just so many people.”

Claude sat cross legged and chuckled. “Yeah, it can be a bit overwhelming. But it can be fun too. I saw you were pretty popular Teach.”

“Me? Popular?”

“Well, yeah, I mean so many of the students you TAed for just kept coming up to you. I didn’t even know we were going to make it outside in a timely manner.”

“I guess.” She wanted to pull her legs up to her knees but she was in a dress and that would not be proper. Instead she rested her palms on the ground next to her and leaned back with her back and head resting against the wall.

The quiet was nice and the hallway was much cooler than the ballroom. Besides the faint murmur of the people at the ball, the only sound was their breathing. Weirdly enough, Byleth did not find it awkward, more comforting, familiar even. But why though? This wasn’t the first time she had felt something familiar from Claude. Had they met before in childhood or something?

She startled as she felt a warm touch on her hand. She looked down and saw Claude’s hand on top of hers. Eyes widen, she looked up at him and saw he was pointedly looking away from her. She shifted her hand and he jerked his hand back.

“Sorry,” he whispered. “It was the moment, I just thought…”

“Put your hand back.”

He looked at her in surprise.

“Claude, put your hand back.”

He rested his palm on the ground and she reached out with her own and laced her fingers with his. Now it was her turn to look away, her heart pounding.

“Teach…”

“Honestly, I don’t know why you would have an interest in me to tell you the truth.. I mean, unless you’re into the teacher type I guess.”

“No! That’s not it at all. It’s…” He grimanced. “You wouldn’t believe me.”

She frowned as she looked at him. “That’s what you said when I asked about the ‘teach’ nickname.”

“Well…this is a part of that.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s…do you think it’s possible to dream of another place and time?”

“Dream? What are you talking about Claude?”

“I mean exactly that. Seeing another place and time in your dreams.”

“I don’t know, I’ve never thought about it. But what does have to do with this?”

“It has everything to do with this.” Claude looked at her with an expression that made her blush harder. This couldn’t be what she thought it was. He was looking at her with pure unfiltered love. How?

He shifted closer to her and paused, seeming to be checking her reaction.

“I still don’t understand,” she whispered. “We barely know each other.”

“I’ve known you for a long time,” he replied. He moved closer and there was barely any space between them.

She wanted to deny his words, they were foolish and odd. However, something deep within her told her he was telling the truth, however impossible it may be. And wasn’t it the same for her? Despite his nature, she had been drawn to him and kept trying to keep him close. Her heart pounded against her ribcage.

He rested a hand on her cheek. “Tell me and I’ll stop,” he whispered.

He was getting closer and closer to her. Her palms were sweaty and her heart hurt from beating so hard.

Wait a minute.

Byleth pulled away and she saw a flash of hurt cross his face. She took in a few breathes, noting immediately how her breathing was shaky and ragged. Too off. The pounding in her heart that she originally thought was due to the circumstance was getting harder and more painful and she could feel the pain slowly starting to streak through her body.

“Byleth?” he looked at her in concern.

“Get my father. Get my father now Claude. Please.” She clutched at her chest and took a few shaky breathes.


	17. Chapter 17

Claude had been hurt when Byleth pulled away but he understood. Maybe it was too soon, maybe he had been too forward. Maybe it was just his expression. He hadn’t schooled it and let her see the full brunt of his feelings towards her. That would probably frighten anyone off if they didn’t harbor the same level of feelings.

However his own hurt fled as he saw she was breathing oddly and her hands over her heart. “Byleth?”

“Get my father. Get my father now Claude. Please.” She looked at him with pleading, fearful eyes.

“I’ll be right back,” he promised as he scrambled to his feet and hurried back into the hall. His eyes scanned the crowd for Jeralt but didn’t see the orange haired man anywhere. Cursing, he started pushing his way through the crowd.

“There you are Claude!” Hilda walked over, Dorothea and Petra right behind her. Her eyes glittered with mischief. “I saw you dancing with Byleth earlier!” She frowned as she took in Claude’s expression. “What happened?”

“Do you know where Jeralt is? The coach, err, the one in charge of the sports teams.”

“He’s by the bar. Claude, what…”

“I’ll explain later. Thanks Hilda!” Claude pushed through the crowd and then realized he needed to go around the dance floor to get to the bar. A few people cursed him and made snide comments but he ignored them. The longer he was here, the longer Byleth was out there on the floor, all alone.

Jeralt was talking to Alois. It was obvious Alois had just said a pun of some kind as Jeralt was groaning and shaking his head.

“Hello there sonny, you seem like you’re in a hurry,” said Alois as Claude ran over to them.

“I remember you, Claude right?” asked Jeralt.

Claude was surprised Jeralt even remembered him but this was not the time to ask about that. “I need you to come with me sir. It’s Byleth. She’s in the hallway, she asked me to get you.”

Jeralt easy-going demeanor shifted and Claude saw the mercenary Jeralt from the other world. “Lead the way kid.”

Jeralt was all business. When Claude tried to go around the dance floor, Jeralt chose to cut through the center. No one complained, his serious expression and sure and fast footsteps countered any argument that would have been thrown against him.

They reached the hallway and Claude saw Byleth was on the ground, curled in a fetal position, her breathing wheezing and ragged. Tears streamed down her face. He wanted to run over and help her but he didn’t know what to do.

Jeralt let out a few curses and shrugged off his suit jacket and wrapped it around Byleth’s shoulders before picking her up bridal style. She looked so small in his arms, like a child as she was curled in on herself and Claude could make out her letting out small gasps of pain.

“Kid.”

It took Claude a moment to realize Jeralt was talking to him. “Yes sir?”

“I’m taking her to the hospital. Go back inside and let Rhea knew we’re going there. If Seteth stops you, tell him that Byleth collapsed. He’s aware of her heart problem.” Without waiting for a response, Jeralt headed down the hall with quick strides.

Claude’s legs shook as he went back inside the hall. The noise of it was way too loud and bombarded his ears as he made his way over to Rhea’s throne.

“Can I help you?” Seteth stepped forward before Claude could get too close to the throne. Rhea’s attention flickered in their direction for a moment before focusing back on watching the crowd.

“Byleth collapsed,” Claude whispered. “Jeralt is taking her to the hospital now.”

Seteth’s eyes widen and he cursed. “Rhea!”

Rhea looked back at them with concern. “What is it?”

Seteth walked over to her and whispered in her ear. Rhea stiffened and pulled her phone out of her pocket, quickly dialed a number and held it up to her ear. Someone picked up almost immediately and Rhea began barking orders.

“Thank you for bringing this to our attention,” said Seteth as he walked back over to Claude. “I was unaware that any students were aware of her condition. How did you find out?”

“She told me herself.”

“Oh really? That’s a surprise. I wonder why she disclosed the information to you. Although this is probably not the time to be speculating on such matters.”

Rhea nodded and put away her phone. Her body slumped slightly on the throne and her hands were clenched into fists but her overall appearance was poised and attentive. Claude realized that Rhea probably couldn’t leave the ball.

“Thank you for bringing this to our attention and it has been handled. You can return to enjoying the ball.”

Claude nodded and moved away from the throne. However he knew he could not enjoy the rest of the evening. Not when he could picture Byleth lying on the ground in a fetal position in pain. 

Making up his mind, Claude headed for the exit. First a quick stop in his dorm room to get his car keys.

***

As Claude entered Garreg Mach hospital, he began to second guess the decision. How in the world was he supposed to see Byleth or know if she was okay? He wasn’t family and with Rhea owning the hospital, she probably got the best care possible. There was no way the doctors and nurses were going to let a random guy like him see her, much less know how she was doing.

He walked past the cafeteria and almost bumped into someone walking out.

“It’s you kid.”

Claude looked up in surprise at Jeralt’s face. It might have been only about half an hour max since they had last seen each other but Jeralt looked haggard and exhausted, like he had gained ten years on his life. The tie around his neck was loosened and the top few buttons of his collared shirt undone.

“I’m sorry if I’m like really overstepping my bounds on this matter but I just had to know if she’s alright. She was with me when she started having symptoms and I danced with her before that.” And he had almost kissed her. 

Jeralt sighed. “It’s not your fault kid. Sometimes she just gets these major attacks. They come out of the blue.”

“Oh.” Maybe that’s why Claude had rushed over here. The guilt that this might have happened because of him drove him here.

Jeralt held out a bag. “Here, have a cookie. Let’s go up to the waiting room on the floor she’s at. They’re working to stabilize her now and I think we need to have a long chat.”

Claude took the cookie. “We need to have a chat?” he asked in confusion.

Jeralt nodded. “We do, Claude von Riegan…. of the Leicester Alliance.”

Claude froze and looked at Jeralt. Jeralt gave him a small nod. “I thought so. You do have dreams of ancient Fodlan. Come on, let’s chat upstairs.”

***

When Jeralt had said waiting room, Claude pictured a typical doctor’s office with a bunch of chairs around a coffee table covered in magazines, not a personal private room with couches and a small snack bar.

“Take whatever you want from the snack bar,” said Jeralt. “We don’t have to pay for it.”

Claude shook his head and sat on a couch. He was still reeling over the fact that Jeralt apparently also had dreams of that other world.

“So how long have you been having them?”

“Since I was a child.”

“That long huh? I started having them after I met my wife. It was a bit alarming to say in the least, especially when I started seeing the similarities between the worlds.” He sighed. “At least Rhea is much more sane this time around and she cares about Byleth in a not creepy way.”

Claude had to nod in agreement. The Rhea of this world seemed to genuinely care about Byleth’s well being. “But how did you figure out I had dreams?”

“Cause how you look at my daughter.” Jeralt rolled his eyes. “Don’t look so surprised, when she isn’t watching, you look at her with pure love. Not something that someone your age would normally have. Plus I was witness to the first couple of months of you two getting to know each other in the other world. It was easy to see the parallels, although I can tell your feelings are much stronger than what I saw when I was…” He grimanced. “Alive, over there.”

Claude winced as he remembered how distraught the Byleth in the other world had been when Jeralt had been killed by Kronya. She had cried for the first time and she had an melancholic edge to her that last almost a whole month. “She mourned your death. She was incredibly upset when you passed.”

“Was she? That’s good. I was worried about my Byleth over there. She’s…different than the child I have here.”

“Well she had a crest stone for a heart over there, so that led to the stunting of her emotions.”

“She had what now?”

Claude quickly explained what he knew about the condition of the heart of the other Byleth. Jeralt sat back in his seat and took it all in, really listening to what Claude was saying. It was surprising to him since the only other person he could share these experiences with that truly got it was Lysithea and she was way better at it than he was.

“So I either get a child who had an artificial heart that stunted her emotions or a child with emotions but a heart that couldn’t keep up with her. My options are great.” Jeralt shook his head. “So how do you factor in all of this? What are you to my daughter over there?”

Claude’s face flushed. “Well, uh, I haven’t seen those memories myself but according to a friend who has a much easier time retrieving memories from over there…we got married.”

“Married….” Jeralt groaned. “So that means you’re going to be my son-in-law!?”

Claude winced. “I’m uh sorry?”

“No, no, it’s not that, it’s just….it’s a weird thought for the me of right now. Sure the worlds don’t exactly line up but I can tell Byleth is infatuated with you.”

“Wait, she is?”

“Well she can’t see it herself but as her old man, I can. Makes sense why she is attracted to you since you two do end up married in the other world. Didn’t think this would be the way I would meet my future son-in-law but here we are.”

Claude did not know how to take the nonchalant way Jeralt had accepted Claude. Or perhaps this was Jeralt’s way of coping with the fact his daughter was still in surgery, or whatever the doctors did to stabilize her.

“So…how much longer until we find out if she’s okay?”

“Sometimes an hour but sometimes a lot more.” Jeralt grabbed a magazine from the rack and began looking through it.

Not knowing what else to do, Claude went to the snack bar to see what he could find.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone that read the original version of this chapter and got confused by the change, I was honestly struggling with writing more for this story over the past couple of months. What is written below(along with the next chapter) was the original ending for this story before I changed it to make it possible to write more for it. I felt bad leaving this story as incomplete for so long so I decided to grab my original version of the ending and then upload it so this story can be "complete". Sorry about that, everyone who was waiting for that pat 2. It just wasn't writing itself and I would rather release the original version of the story rather than a crappy attempt to prolong the story.

Chapter 18

Claude never realized how torturous waiting could be. The first hour passed, then another, then another. He had to respond to Hilda’s panicked texts of where he was. He gave her a vague response of having an emergency and needing to take care of it. Hilda, not surprisingly, managed to read between the lines and ask if it was related to Byleth. Claude didn’t respond to that text and Hilda replied back five minutes later with a, “I understand” and to let her know when he was back on campus.

He really didn’t deserve a friend like her.

As the third hour was nearing the end, he could see Jeralt was getting antsy as well.

“It doesn’t usually take this long,” he murmured on more than one occasion. Jeralt also began pacing the room and Claude had to sit in the corner to avoid the risk of being run over by Jeralt’s slowly increasing frantic pacing.

As the fourth hour passed, a doctor walked in. He seemed to be taken aback by Claude sitting in the corner of the waiting room.

Jeralt approached. “So? How is she?”

“Uh, what about…” The doctor gestured to Claude.

Jeralt waved the concern away. “The kid’s fine. How is she?”

The doctor shook his head. “This is the worst I’ve seen her. We were able to reduce the stress on her heart and have her stabilized for the most part but she’s still unconscious. Based on her brain wave pattern, we’re not sure if she’s going to wake up any time soon if at all. And her heart, we need to assist to keep it going.”

Jeralt looked like he was going to fall but somehow managed to keep himself upright.

Claude felt like he was going to be sick. He didn’t need to understand medical terms to realize Byleth was most likely dying.

“If you would like to see her…”

Jeralt nodded. “I’ll do that. Does Rhea know?”

“We are trying to get in contact with her right now.”

“Got it.” Jeralt was about to follow the doctor, paused and looked at Claude, an idea seeming to come over him. “Kid, come with us.”

“Huh?” Claude stared at Jeralt.

“You heard me kid, come see her.”

“Sir…”

Jeralt looked at the doctor in annoyance. “As her legal guardian I can say who gets to see her or not. This kid can. In fact, it might solve everything.”

“If you say so…” The doctor nodded. “Follow me.”

Claude followed Jeralt, still incredibly confused. “I don’t understand…”

“She married you in the other world, so she trusts you. Just try to talk to her, try to pull her back.” Jeralt shrugged. “If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work but please try. She lost me before, I don’t want to lose her first this time.”

Claude gulped at the helpless expression on Jeralt’s face. “I…I’ll try.”

The doctor lead them into a private hospital room. It looked like something out a horror movie. Wires and cords snaked out of Byleth’s still body, connected to many, many beeping machines that surrounded the bed. They were monitoring all sorts of things but Claude could barely make heads or tails of it. His focus was on Byleth’s still face, a mask over her mouth and nose to help her breath.

“Give us a few minutes?” Jeralt asked the doctor. Once the doctor left, he leaned against the wall and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’ll try to not listen but…”

Claude nodded. He slowly approached her bed and kneeled next to her. “Again with the napping Teach, you really need to stop doing that. Did you know in the other world you slept for five years? That’s an awfully long time. I really hope you aren’t going to sleep so long in this world.”

He hesitated and put his hand over hers. He was too scared to move her, may it mess up one of the wires or cords monitoring something on her. “Teach, you’re my closest friend over there and I want to know more about you in this world. You’re different and yet the same and I want to know more. Considering that we almost…” He paused, remembering Jeralt was listening in and that was probably not something he should admit in front of Byleth’s dad. “Well, you know, you were there. And I love to dance with you again. Something slower of course but…I think it would be great to do it again.” He put his other hand over the one on Byleth’s hand. “Please, I want to be able to walk in step with you in this world as well.”

***

Byleth’s heart was fire in her chest. She was tired. So much time and effort she spent trying to control it and yet again her heart decided it didn’t want to work right anymore.

Maybe it was for the best to just let it go. If she let it go then it wouldn’t hurt anymore. Maybe she would have a better heart then.

In the void of space, she began floating in the direction that reduced the pain in her heart. Maybe it would be for the best to keep going this way. Just to make it end.

It would save her family the trouble. She knew she stressed her father out with her almost constant hospital trips and although Rhea didn’t show it, she worried as well. This would reduce the burden on them.

As she continued to float in that direction, she felt a tugging on her hand. Looking down, she felt a warm presence but saw nothing there.

_“Please, I want to be able to walk in step with you in this world as well.”_

Who was that voice? Why was it so familiar? Why were those words so familiar?

She yelped as flashes of memories flooded into her. A brown haired man with a golden cape thrown over a shoulder riding a wyvern. The same man running to her side, and fighting next to her on a battlefield. The same man offering her a ring with a promise of coming back for her.

Tears dripped out of her eyes as puzzle pieces finally fit into place. “Claude,” she whispered, remembering the visage she saw over the younger Claude that was her student for the past couple of months. Why he looked out for her and wanted to be near her. Everything made sense.

She turned and began floating in the other direction. The pain in her chest intensified but she ignored it. She wanted to know more about the Claude from this world, she wanted to know more about everyone from this world. All those kids she was the professor for in the other world, she wanted to be there for them again.

The pain in her chest got so great that she felt herself falling unconscious…

She opened eyes to a blurry view of the familiar ceiling of the hospital. Feeling movement to her right, she shifted her attention and saw Claude looking at her with tears in his eyes. Oh, he was still dressed up for the ball although his hair was mussed and his tie pulled loose.

He was speaking but she could not hear the words. After a moment Jeralt came into view and all she wanted to do was to make a joke about her dad crying over her. However her mouth wasn’t working right, in fact her whole body felt like a heavy weight was being pushed down on it.

A couple doctors and nurses seemed to appear from nowhere and surround the bed. Claude and Jeralt went out of view and all Byleth wanted to do was to ask where they were. However, she was really tired, maybe after a little nap, she would feel much better.


	19. Chapter 19

Claude lightly knocked on the door before peeking his head into Byleth’s private hospital room. “Oh, looks like I caught you awake for once Teach.”

Byleth was sitting up on her bed, a book in her lap. A device was attached to her finger to monitor her pulse and there were a few others doing who knows what but it was a far cry from the setup he had seen her in a few days ago.

“So you’re the one bringing me flowers every time.” She glanced to her bedside table which was littered with vases and brightly colored flowers.

He gave her a sheepish grin. “Should I have not done that?”

She shook her head. “It’s okay. It makes for a nice surprise whenever I opened my eyes. Really sorry for not being able to thank you for them though. I don’t know why you always seem to come by when I’m asleep.”

“It’s okay, it’s good to know you were awake at other points in the day though.” He saw the first set of flowers he brought for her were beginning to wilt so he removed those from the vase and set the new set of flowers in it. It took him a moment to locate the trash can in the small bathroom and he tossed the old flowers in it.

“Aren’t you winter break now though?”

Claude rubbed the back of his neck as he walked out of the bathroom and sat in the chair by her bed. “Yeah but Coach Shamir has us busy with practice. Season starts soon and the plan is to have Garreg Mach place in nationals.”

Truthfully Shamir was okay with people dipping out a few weeks to visit family and normally Claude would have gone home to spend time with his family. But, he felt like he couldn’t leave without having a conversation or two with Byleth. And it just so happened he kept catching her on days when she was asleep.

“I hope she’s not working you too hard.”

“Coach Shamir is very focused so we do well.” Claude laughed.

She nodded and pushed a few strands of hair behind an ear and bit her lip.

“Is something wrong? Is your heart hurting? Should I get a nurse?”

“No, it isn’t that. I…well, I think I know how you became a good dancer.”

“You do?” he asked in surprise.

She gave him a coy smile. “I think it was my decision to have you enter the White Heron Cup that led you to get some very good dance lessons.”

Claude stared at her wide-eyed. “Byleth you…you know?” he whispered.

“Ever since I woke up a few days ago after my really bad spell, whenever I dream, I dream that other world. It’s all bits and pieces at the moment but…” She looked at him thoughtfully. “You’ve seen a lot of it, haven’t you?”

Now it was his turn to nod. “Yes. That is why I just couldn’t leave you alone, no matter how annoying I was about it.”

“You were a little awkward about it,” she giggled. She smiled. “I’m glad we could find each other again. Even if it was kind of as dramatic as the other world.”

Claude shrugged. “It’s alright, we’ve gotten out of a lot of tough scrapes, haven’t we?”

“That we have.” She looked at him expectantly.

He knew that expression from the other world. With a dorky grin, he got up and sat on the edge of the bed, making sure to not sit on any of the wires or tubes. He rested his hand on her cheek and leaned towards her. At the last moment he paused. “Hang on, is it okay to do this? For your heart I mean?”

The rest of his worries were drowned out as she kissed him. It was gentle and sweet and quick. She pulled away first, her face red. “I think something quick like that will be fine,” she whispered.

Claude looked down at the bedspread, his face on fire. How did the him in the other world kiss Byleth with no hesitation and seem so cool about it?!

“Claude, you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just, I’m happy you know?”

She giggled. “I’m glad you’re glad.”

He smiled and went to kiss her again when a loud voice said from the doorway. “Couldn’t you two wait until Byleth was out of the hospital before looking into each other’s eyes like that!?”

Claude moved faster than he ever had in his life back into the chair next to the bed. Jeralt stood in the doorway with his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

“Uh, hi Dad,” squeaked Byleth.

“Now don’t you try to sound so innocent and ignore what just happened. Do I need to give you the where babies come from talk?”

“No Dad! Seriously stop!” She buried her face in her hands.

All Claude wanted to do was vanish. Sure Jeralt liked him since Claude somehow was able to pull Byleth back from where she had gone when she was asleep but this might break their fragile relationship a bit.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to come back later then. Don’t you two do anything stupid. The heart monitors will beep if her heartrate gets too high.”

“DAD!”

Jeralt put up his hands. “Just want to make sure alright? Now have fun you two I guess.” The door shut with a loud thud.

“Uh…” said Claude.

“He’s impossible,” groaned Byleth. “I’m so sorry Claude.”

“It’s okay, he’s just looking out for you.” Or at least that’s how Claude was going to take it.

“Maybe but still, so awkward.” She sighed and then her expression brightened. “Tell me more about that other world. I have some memories but not much…” Her eyes widen. “Hang on, is that why you’ve been researching ancient Fodlan?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I was just curious about that other world. Although I will admit, the book stopped being of interest to me, it was more for spending time with you.”

She blushed. “I can see that now.”

Claude leaned back in the chair. “Now what I should tell you about that world…”

“How about starting where we met? I don’t have any memories of that yet.”

“Ah, there’s some things that can help with that. I can teach you once you’re out of here. I don’t think the hospital will enjoy us burning incense in here.” He leaned forward in the chair. “Well it all started when yours truly was getting chased by bandits.”


End file.
